SAGINAW, MI – The Michigan Supreme Court has issued an opinion in a , ruling that the county can be held liable under the Whistleblowers’ Protection Act.
The ruling also established a new legal standard for public policy-based termination claims, an expansion of legal protections for public employees tasked with upholding the law.
“The Michigan Supreme Court’s opinion is a victory for employees and those who value access to justice,” attorneys Cary McGehee, Beth Rivers, and Channing Robinson-Holmes of Pitt McGehee Palmer Bonanni & Rivers, who represent the plaintiff in the case, wrote in a joint statement.
The lawsuit Jennifer Janetsky v. Saginaw County was filed in 2015. At the time, Janetsky was an assistant prosecutor in Saginaw County and had been placed on leave. She brought the suit against Prosecutor John McColgan Jr., his then-chief assistant Christopher Boyd, and the county itself.
Attorneys for the defendants did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Now the city attorney in Ann Arbor, Janetsky alleged violations of the Whistleblowers’ Protection Act, public policy violations, assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and false imprisonment.
At the time, Janetsky was an assistant prosecuting attorney in the Saginaw County Prosecutor’s Office, where McColgan served as the elected prosecutor and Boyd as his chief assistant. Janetsky had been assigned to prosecute , who faced charges including first- and third-degree criminal...
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