Harassment
dence,” the lawsuit alleges. “They included unwanted, unrequited, romantic and sexual confessions ...”
For about the first three years, Codish reported to a different supervisor, but she began reporting to Voyles in about 2016, the suit alleges.
Voyles first asked Codish to meet offsite at a local bar in December 2017, the suit alleges. He then began asking Codish to meet him at what he referred to as “our bar” more frequently, and as Codish became increasingly uncomfortable, “began manufacturing workrelated events, such as team-building exercises,” so he could see her more frequently, according to the lawsuit.
Codish consistently told Voyles to keep their communications professional and told him never to send her anything he would not send his wife, according to the suit.
One night in 2018, after Voyles asked Codish to go for a drink with him and she refused, he asked a DAC staff member to convince Codish to go to Voyles’ DAC office, where Voyles said he would do “something very bad” to her, according to the lawsuit.
In May 2018, Codish again told Voyles his conduct was making her uncomfortable and asked him to stop, according to the lawsuit.
In July 2018, DAC member and former board member James Tignanelli emailed Voyles on behalf of Codish without naming her, according to the lawsuit.
“She is getting frightened by your refusal to accept her rejections,” Tignanelli wrote. Such situations “never end well for the person who ignores simple rejections,” he wrote.
Voyles emailed back, saying he was “distraught, embarrassed and horrified” by his own actions.
Soon after, Codish was losing work assignments, she alleged.
Codish says she complained about Voyles to DAC human resources in January 2019, but was told that Voyles was “quirky” and had “come clean to his wife,” the suit alleges.
Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @paulegan4. Read more on Michigan politics and sign up for our elections newsletter.