A federal judge has maintained whistleblower and retaliation claims against Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel by a fired department head while dismissing her claims of racial bias and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
In a March 10 opinion, U.S. District Judge Shalina Kumar, also dismissed Deputy County Executive John Paul Rea as a second defendant in the lawsuit filed by Rhonda Powell, the former director of the county Department of Health and Community Services, who was fired in 2019. The judge ruled the decision to fire Powell was solely made by Hackel.
Attorney Terrence Miglio, representing Hackel, said the ruling is favorable to the executive.
“The judge dismissed a vast majority of the claims,” he said. “We are pleased with the ruling but believe the whole case should have been dismissed. The race discrimination claim, which was a big part of the case, is gone, which is big.
“We’ll continue to move forward and go to trial if there is one.”
Powell, who began her first stint with the county in 2011, left for a job with the state in 2012 then returned to the county payroll to become Macomb’s highest ranking Black employee in its history. She sued in 2020 claiming she was fired in 2019 for pushing for further investigation of complaints of racial discrimination by Black employees under her supervision that she says were not being fully addressed by the county. One employee had been disciplined, but minority employees continued to complain,...
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