Photographer sues Detroit Athletic Club, alleging repeated sexual harassment

click to enlarge Detroit Athletic Club in downtown Detroit. - Steve Neavling
Steve Neavling
Detroit Athletic Club in downtown Detroit.

A Detroit-area photographer is suing the Detroit Athletic Club, alleging she lost assignments there after she complained about her supervisor making repeated and unwanted sexual advances.

Cybelle Codish filed a lawsuit Monday in Wayne County Circuit Court, saying Kenneth Voyles, the editor of the social club’s monthly “DAC News,” sexually harassed her for at least two years, sending creepy letters, emails, and texts to her home.

"They included unwanted, unrequited, romantic and sexual confessions,” alleges the lawsuit, first reported by the Detroit Free Press.

"You are a wonder to me, your creativity, your passion for all that you do, the sweet aura of your aurora," Voyles allegedly told Codish in a handwritten note included as an exhibit to the lawsuit. "You are a dream to me."

After Codish repeatedly rejected Voyles and complained to DAC board members and human resources, she says she began losing photography work for the club, which earned her $83,000 in 2018.

Codish began taking photos for the club in 2012, according to the lawsuit.

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