Court Official Accused Of Harassment Details Of Complaint Against Commissioner Won’t Be Released

Spokane County officials are investigating a sexual harassment complaint made by a female worker against Superior Court Commissioner Fred Aronow.

Details of the allegation will not be made public either during or after the investigation, county officials said Friday.

Aronow said he met with members of the county’s Human Resources office Friday morning to give his account of the incident.

The 53-year-old Aronow said he had no other comment.

“The only thing to do is to let this investigation take its course,” said Aronow, a colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve.

Superior Court Judge Michael Donohue said the complaint came to his attention within the past month.

The 11 Superior Court judges are the managers of the five commissioners who take on an assortment of family law hearings and Juvenile Court proceedings.

Aronow was appointed by the judges in 1995 to the commissioner’s job, which pays $85,800 per year.

Donohue said the court judges will await a report next week from investigators before considering any action.

Using the human resources department is a way of having “a third party look at the issue and report its findings,” said Donohue, the court’s presiding judge.

Aronow could lose his commissioner’s job if investigators conclude the harassment occurred and is part of a pattern of misconduct. Other options include suspension or mandatory participation in sexual harassment training programs.

In the past five years, Spokane County has had a string of sexual harassment complaints directed against male managers.

Following investigations in those cases, disciplinary actions have ranged from suspension to dismissal to decisions that no harassment occurred.

But this is the first time an accusation of harassment has been publicly acknowledged against a judge or court commissioner.

Aronow practiced law in Spokane for 14 years before taking the commissioner’s job in December 1995. He was appointed to a vacancy created when Neal Rielly became a Superior Court judge.

Aronow is married.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: The job Spokane County court commissioners regularly preside over paternity actions, divorce hearings, custody disputes and other family law matters. Unlike judges, who must run for election, commissioners serve at the discretion of the Superior Court judges.