Former Hennepin County judge reprimanded for pattern of sexual harassment, relationship with clerk

A longtime Hennepin County judge who retired in March has been publicly reprimanded after an investigation found a pattern of sexual harassment that included an inappropriate relationship with his clerk and staffers overhearing “explicit sounds of sexual activity” while they were in his chambers.

Judge Jay Quam, who was appointed to the bench in 2006, “abused his authority and tarnished the reputation of the judiciary,” according to the reprimand by the Minnesota Board on Judicial Standards. The board’s investigation found a lengthy history of inappropriate sexual comments and activity from Quam — ranging from the relationship with a former clerk to making observations about his clerks’ bodies, food intake or clothing choices.

Quam, 62, declined to comment when reached Friday. The reprimand noted that he admitted to all of the conduct.

The report into his conduct was submitted to the board by Hennepin County Chief Judge Kerry Meyer.

Kevin Burke, former district judge in Hennepin County, who was elected for four terms as chief judge and three terms as assistant chief judge, said in a phone interview Friday that he is deeply saddened by the news.

“I think Jay had a very long and distinguished career on the bench, and this is a very sad situation for him and for his family,” he said.

As the county’s longest-serving chief judge, Burke said he was “in situations in which colleagues disappoint you,” and said it’s a very tough position for Meyer to be in.

Meyer and Quam were appointed to the bench in 2006 by Gov. Tim Pawlenty.

Quam’s sexual relationship with his former clerk began while she was his employee. Several years later, the report reads, the relationship began again and was openly noticed by his colleagues around the courthouse, including within the past year when an attorney saw them “canoodling” with their hands on each other’s knees.

In 2022 and 2023, one of Quam’s clerks also “overheard explicit sounds of sexual activity” coming from his chambers while he was inside with his former clerk.

The extent of the other sexual harassment by Quam included asking a clerk to go out for drinks so he could “see another side” of her and looking a clerk up and down and saying she definitely had a “runner’s body.”

One former clerk said Quam made 50 to 60 comments to her in the course of her employment. The report said that clerks began to wear long skirts to work, openly attempted to avoid Quam’s commentary and attention and were concerned his conduct could have an impact on their careers.

Quam had no prior disciplinary actions against him and over the course of his career he was seen as a fair judge from attorneys on both sides of the aisle.

Chief Hennepin County Public Defender Mike Berger did not want to comment on the reprimand but said Quam “saw our clients’ humanity and treated them with dignity and respect.”

Quam worked in civil, criminal and probate divisions and was in several leadership positions within the judiciary. He most recently served as chief judge of the Commitment Appeal Panel from 2022 until his retirement. That panel determined whether civilly committed sexual offenders should be released from the Minnesota Sex Offender Program in Moose Lake.

Public reprimands against judges are rare and the only recent example of a reprimand for sexual harassment came in the 1980s against Ramsey County District Judge Alberto Miera. The board attempted to remove him from the bench for sexually harassing his court reporter. Miera appealed the decision to the Minnesota Supreme Court, and he also entered into a protest fast that lasted 53 days as he only drank lemon water and ate a daily vitamin. The state Supreme Court suspended Miera for a year without pay, but he was allowed to return to the bench.

“There have been, over the years, other judges who have engaged in inappropriate behavior,” Burke said.

Quam is a native of Detroit Lakes and obtained his law degree from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1988. Before being appointed to the bench, Quam was a shareholder at the Fredrikson & Byron law firm in the civil litigation department. He served as an adjunct professor of trial advocacy at the University of St. Thomas since 2005 and as an attorney coach for the Mounds View High School Mock Trial Team.

He was born in Grand Forks, N.D., and raised two children in Eden Prairie with his wife.

The reprimand states that “Judge Quam has otherwise enjoyed a good reputation throughout his career, he does not have a disciplinary record with this Board, and he cooperated with the Board’s investigation. However, the degree of notoriety and effect of his misconduct has damaged the public’s confidence in the integrity of the judiciary.”

It also says if Quam hadn’t retired in March, the board may have sought more serious punishment