Michigan Supreme Court Disavows And Clarifies Whistleblower Motivation

On May 1, 2013, the Michigan Supreme Court held that whistleblower motivation is irrelevant to the issue of whether a whistleblower engaged in protected activity and proof of the whistleblower’s specific motivation is not a prerequisite to a Michigan Whistleblower Protection Act (“WPA”) claim.  Through that holding in the decision of Whitman v. City of Burton, 493 Mich. 303, 321 (2013), the Supreme Court clarified and disavowed Shallal v. Catholic Social Services, 455 Mich. 604 (1997).  “To the extent that Shallal has been interpreted to mandate a specific motive, any language to that effect is disavowed as dicta unrelated to the essential holding of the case regarding the causal connection between the protected activity and the adverse employment decision.”  Id.  Read More ›