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Michigan House Speaker Kevin Cotter, R-Mt. Pleasant

(Danielle Duval | MLive file photo)

LANSING, MI -- Fired aides to former state Reps. Todd Courser and Cindy Gamrat sued the Michigan House on Monday, alleging they were wrongfully terminated after sharing information about their bosses with Speaker Kevin Cotter's office.

The five-count federal suit, filed in U.S. District Court on behalf of Keith Allard and Ben Graham, accuses the House of violating their First Amendment rights, the Michigan Whistleblowers' Protection Act and invading their privacy.

The House, "had knowledge" Allard and Graham had "complained about violations of laws and rules," according to the suit, which alleges they were fired "because of their protected activity."

Cotter, who supported efforts to expel Courser and Gamrat over allegations they misused taxpayer resources in covering up their extramarital affair, responded to Allard and Graham's lawsuit by saying it was "wholly without merit."

"The House Business Office did not terminate their employment in July for any protected whistleblowing activity," Cotter, R-Mount Pleasant, said in a statement. "Instead, their supervisors instructed the office to terminate their employment because of poor job performance and because they were 'not a good fit'. The office acted appropriately and legally."

The supervisors, in this case, were Courser and Gamrat, who asked the House Business Office to fire Allard and Graham in early July. The staffers sued the former lawmakers for wrongful termination in October. That case still is active in Ingham County Circuit Court.

The newly filed lawsuit against the House describes a series of meetings between Allard, Graham and various Cotter aides, including former chief of staff Norm Saari and current chief of staff Brock Swartzle.

Allard, Graham and another staffer met with Saari in the second week of February, according to the suit, telling him Courser and Gamrat were "not usually engaged with legislative business" and had asked staff to send political emails.

They also noted "significant, difficult to ignore signs that Courser and Gamrat were having an extramarital affair, and that Gamrat's husband had been sharing the same types of suspicions with the staff, which put the employees in an untenable position."

Cotter walked through Saari's office during the meeting, according to the suit, which contends Saari shared with him "some of the staff's concerns."

A month later, Allard went to Saari and told him "in no uncertain terms that he felt Courser and Gamrat were abusing taxpayer resources, including their staff," per the suit.

Graham again went to Saari and Swartzle on May 21, telling them Courser had asked him to send the infamous "controlled burn" email, in which Courser accused himself of sleeping with a male prostitute in order to minimize any rumors of his affair with Gamrat.

The suit alleges Allard and Graham were fired "in retaliation for exercise of their First Amendment rights to speak on matters of public concern" and accuses leadership of retaliating through the official House Business Office report on Courser and Gamrat.

The report, as originally released, included Allard and Graham's Social Security numbers and, according to the complaint, "omitted" key facts to suggest they had been fired for cause.

The House, including Saari, Swartzle, Courser, Gamrat and others "knew or should have known that the termination of plaintiffs' employment was in retaliation for plaintiffs' reports of wrongdoing to a governmental authority," according to the lawsuit.

Cotter's critics were quick to jump on the complaint.

Michigan Democratic Party Chair Brandon Dillon called it "a massive cover-up using threats, intimidation and taxpayer resources by top Republican officials ...," including Cotter.

"This complaint alleges very troubling and deceptive behavior by top Republicans in the House. If these allegations are true, they are even more serious than the scandal that ultimately forced the resignation and expulsion of Todd Courser and Cindy Gamrat, in the first place," Dillon said.

Lonnie Scott, executive director of the Progress Michigan liberal advocacy group, went so far as to say Cotter should resign if the allegations in the lawsuit are true.

But Cotter downplayed the suit in a lengthy statement, saying the House Business Office probe and a criminal investigation into text messages sent by Gamrat's husband showed Allard and Graham were "substandard staffers, violated House rules, and sent rude and disparaging emails about their coworkers, colleagues and supervisors."

"In short, much like their bosses, Mr. Allard and Mr. Graham deserved to be removed from the Michigan House of Representatives," Cotter said.

"In fact, during the criminal investigation by the Michigan State Police, it became clear that Mr. Allard and Mr. Graham repeatedly lied to House Business Office investigators and lawyers about their knowledge and involvement in a convoluted, months-long extortion plot against their own supervisors.



"Rather than put this sordid matter behind them, Mr. Allard and Mr. Graham have chosen instead to drag this institution back into their mud pit and waste even more of the people's resources on this ridiculous issue."

Sarah Riley Howard, a Grand Rapids attorney representing Allard and Graham, said she and her clients had been in talks with House leadership about reaching a fair resolution outside of court, but those negations were not successful, so the suit was filed.

"I'm disappointed that they've taken a shoot-the-messenger approach with my clients," Howard said Monday afternoon, referencing Cotter's reaction to the suit. "They were good employees, and they got raises that were signed off by the Speaker's Office prior to their termination. I feel quite bad that they have to suffer through this based on doing the right thing."

Allard and Graham, in their suit, seek "all economic and non-economic compensatory damages for whatever amount the jury finds necessary," in addition to any punitive reward and compensation for attorney and court costs.

Jonathan Oosting is a Capitol reporter for MLive Media Group. Email him, find him on Facebook or follow him on Twitter.