Associated Press

GRAND RAPIDS - A former Michigan lawmaker kicked out of the House because of a sex scandal says she was illegally expelled and deserves back pay.

Cindy Gamrat, a Republican from Allegan County, says House leaders violated her rights in 2015. She filed a new lawsuit last week in federal court in Grand Rapids.

Gamrat is seeking back pay as well as money for distress and humiliation. She says she had struck a deal to be censured, not removed from office.

Attorney Sarah Riley Howard, a lawyer representing two former House aides, says the lawsuit “has no merit.”

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Gamrat’s former husband is also named in the lawsuit. He’s accused of using listening devices to try to catch Gamrat and Todd Courser, a Lapeer County Republican, in their affair. Courser quit the House.