The Michigan State Court of Appeals has again denied motions from the City of Wayne to reconsider decisions Wayne stemming from a suit filed against former Councilman Anthony Miller. The city lawsuit claimed Miller breached his fiduciary responsibility to the city when he provided a hostile work environment assessment report to Michigan State Police as part of a separate criminal investigation.
To date, Third Circuit Court Judge Sheila Gibson has found in favor of Miller on every issue and has awarded more than $90,000 in legal fees to the Rasor Law Firm which represents Miller.
Last week, the Michigan Court of Appeals upheld Gibson’s rulings and denied another appeal effort by the city.
Gibson ruled, and the appeals judges affirmed, that the confidentiality of the hostile workplace assessment report was removed during a council meeting the day prior to the entire report being posted on the city website. The report was removed after about 15 minutes, but multiple downloads of the document had already occurred. Gibson also ruled the city litigation was filed outside the statute of limitations.
In a separate action, Miller is claiming discrimination by city officials and is demanding redress under the Elliott Larsen Act which prohibits discrimination based on race, religion or sexual orientation. The city argument is that Miller, as an elected official, was not a city employee and therefore not afforded those protections.
Miller’s attorney, James Rasor, strongly disagrees with the city argument noting that the city “ruthlessly attacked” Miller and he is entitled to the same protections as “usual employees.”
The crux of the city claim is a 2018 independent report that dealt with the conduct of former City Manager Lisa Nocerini and concluded that she should be disciplined up to and including termination. The city lawsuit alleged that the report was a confidential work product.
The judge dismissed the claims of the city noting that the statute of limitations had expired before the suit was filed and that the city allegation that the report was ever confidential was disproven by a video tape of a city council meeting in which the posting of the report on the city website was discussed and approved by officials.
According to Rasor, in addition to the $90,000 in legal fees, the judge may impose “sanctions” on the city. That means, Rasor said, the judge could decide to levy some punishment against the city for “acting in bad faith.” The bad faith, Rasor explained, would be the proof presented during the trial that city officials knew the report was not confidential before the lawsuit was filed.
Miller, who was appointed to the city council in December of 2015 and re-elected twice, resigned his position in June of 2021 during the COVID pandemic and moved out of state. While he said he was hesitant to make any comment on the current situation, he said his treatment by other city officials was a factor in his resignation.
