Without mentioning Judge Alex Kozinski by name, Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. on Sunday decried recent reports about sexual harassment in the workplace and said the problem warrants “serious attention from all quarters of the judicial branch.”

Roberts discussed the issue in his annual year-end report, just weeks after Kozinski, former chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit abruptly retired amidst news reports quoting female law clerks and others who stated that he engaged them in unwelcomed and sexually charged conversations and physical interactions.