Secret audio recordings catch Oakland County judge using racist, anti-gay slurs

Bill Laytner
Detroit Free Press

Veteran Oakland County Probate Judge Kathleen Ryan has been relieved of her duties after recordings surfaced of her making racist and anti-gay slurs.

The recordings were sent to key public officials, including Oakland County Executive Dave Coulter, who is gay. Some of Ryan’s anti-gay slurs were directed at Coulter.

In a statement to the Free Press, Coulter called Ryan’s words “abhorrent” and said they justified her removal from the county’s probate court “pending further investigation.”


Oakland County Probate Judge Kathleen Ryan has been removed from her duties pending an investigation into recordings of her allegedly saying racist and anti-gay slurs.

Coulter continued: “There is absolutely no place for harassment of any kind or racist or homophobic language by anyone at Oakland County, especially by someone the public must be confident will act fairly and impartially. I have confidence that the agencies reviewing this matter will treat it with the seriousness it deserves and will take further action if warranted.”

'A new racist'

Ryan was relieved of her docket last week according to county officials. Besides containing Ryan’s vulgar statements about Coulter, the tapes, which the Free Press obtained on Thursday, record her calling the typical Black American “a f------ lazy piece of s---”; and referring to herself as "a new racist." Dave Woodward, of Royal Oak, chair of the Oakland County Board of Commissioners, said he also received copies of the recordings.

{snip}