Court of Appeals rules deduction for health care unconstitutional
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — The Michigan Court of Appeals has ruled unconstitutional a state law forcing school employees to pay 3 percent of their salary toward retiree health care.
A copy of Thursday’s 2-1 ruling was released Friday.
The contribution was put into place in 2010, and unions representing teachers filed suit. In 2011, retired Ingham County Circuit Judge James Giddings, who was hearing the case before he stepped down and returned to finish the job, ruled that school employees were paying into a system that may not ultimately benefit them.
The contribution was instituted as part of an effort to save hundreds of millions of dollars for the state. MLive.com reports some unions want the money to be refunded.
Family decides to donate settlement in police shooting
SANDUSKY, Mich. (AP) — Money from a $2.2 million court settlement over the death of a 29-year-old man who was fatally shot by a Michigan police officer in 2010 will go to charities and police departments, including the one that employed the officer who killed him, the man's father said.
Kent Kramer was shot to death Feb. 27, 2010 by Sandusky Officer Scott Mintz during an attempted arrest. The Times Herald of Port Huron reports that the list of those getting money includes the Sandusky Police Department. Kent’s father, Doug Kramer, said he hopes money will be used for training.
Kent Kramer was shot five times in Sandusky. Police said Mintz was attempting to arrest Kramer for drunken driving when he became belligerent.
Following an investigation, a prosecutor cleared Mintz in the shooting. He’s a part-time officer working on an as-needed basis, but hasn’t been called back to work in Sandusky since the shooting, said Sandusky City Manager Dave Faber.
Michigan high court says installers had no duty to warn of hazard
LANSING (AP) — The Michigan Supreme Court has ruled that the installers of an electric dryer had no legal duty to warn a Detroit-area woman whose house exploded in 2007 about an uncapped gas line.
The court's 4-3 ruling was released Thursday.
MLive.com reports that when Marcy Hill bought the home in Macomb County's Clinton Township in 2003 she wasn't aware the previous owners didn't cap a gas line to a dryer they took with them. Her lawsuit claims that installers that put in an electric one didn't cap the line, warn her about it and hid it with the new dryer.
The home exploded in 2007 after Hill inadvertently opened a valve in her furnace room that supplied the uncapped line. Hill, her daughter and her son had serious burns.
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