An attorney has withdrawn his representation for a woman who sued Butler County’s chief judge in federal court for sexual misconduct.

Gary Vanasdale has represented Crystal Starnes since 2018, a year after Starnes filed the action. But on Thursday, he notified the court through a filing he would withdraw his work for Starnes, who alleges President Judge Thomas Doerr hired her as a county probation officer after he started a five-year sexual relationship with her in 2005, calling it a “business relationship.” Her lawsuit claims Doerr continued to harass her after the relationship ended in 2010.

Starnes’ other lawyer, Edward Olds, still represents her.

The withdrawal comes after a decision from the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, which upheld a lower court’s ruling that Doerr could not claim immunity against two civil rights charges levied by Starnes that Doerr retaliated against her after ending their relationship. But the appellate court reversed the ruling on one claim, saying Doerr is entitled to qualified immunity as a defense against the allegation he interfered with the woman’s First Amendment right to free association, remanding the case back to the lower court.