OTTAWA COUNTY, Mich. — The Michigan Court of Appeals has thrown out an injunction that prohibited the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners from firing the county’s top health official.
Tuesday, a Court of Appeals judge ruled to vacate an April 19 order that prevented county commissioners from removing Adeline Hambley from her job as Ottawa County health officer while her lawsuit worked its way through court.
The judge also granted a motion to expedite, speeding up the court process.
“Obviously, we're very pleased with the ruling yesterday by the Court of Appeals, by the three-judge panel, that basically granted all the relief we were requesting,” said Dave Kallman, who represents the Ottawa County commissioners. “They overturned Judge McNeill's order that said the commissioners could not exercise their authority to remove the county health Director under the state statute. They vacated the judge's order, they stayed any further action at all by the trial court until the Court of Appeals hears the case, they expedited the appeal, they granted our application for leaves. So, pretty much everything we asked for was granted. So, we're very pleased. This means now there will be a quick hearing on this case, as to whether or not Ms. Hambley was in fact installed as the health director in our county, or she wasn't. And it's our legal position that she was not because a final vote was not taken by the prior board. So that's going to be an issue that the Court of Appeals is going to address very quickly.”
Judges will now hear arguments from both sides on whether a Muskegon County judge was wrong for issuing the injunction and affirming Hambley's claim that she was appointed health officer by the previous board.
Back on April 18, Muskegon Circuit Court Judge Jenny L. McNeill released an opinion barring Ottawa County commissioners from firing Hambley and denying their request to dismiss the lawsuit.
The lawsuit against Ottawa County commissioners stems from a January 3 meeting where commissioners voted to demote Hambley to interim health officer and announced their intention to replace her with a man named Nathaniel Kelly.
In her lawsuit, Hambley accuses multiple commissioners, and newly hired County Administrator John Gibbs, of interfering in her ability to do her job.
A judge heard arguments in the case back on March 31.
Initially, Hambley’s attorney requested that Judge McNeil extend a temporary restraining order already in place into a preliminary injunction. At that time, the judge decided to keep the temporary restraining order in place.
Another issue addressed during the hearing on March 31 was whether Hambley was properly appointed as health officer in the first place.
“Ms. Hambley was never appointed in December of 2022,” attorney David Kallman said in court last month.
“The letters came back (from MDHHS)… it’s kind of confusing which letter, but clearly, the department says she is qualified.”
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services sent two letters back to the county regarding Hambley meeting their qualifications, with one letter saying she couldn’t begin her role as health officer until April 1, 2023.
But, a spokesperson for the department tells FOX 17 that Hambley was approved to begin serving as Health Officer beginning on Dec. 21, 2022, not April 1, 2023, as attorneys for the county are now claiming.
But, Kallman says Hambley was never appointed by the former board of commissioners once she was approved by the MDHHS.
“Then January 3, they appoint her ‘interim’ health officer,” Kallman said in court.
The previous commissioners introduced and approved a motion at a December 13, 2022, meeting to appoint Hambley the county health officer.
Kallman alleges that commissioners were required to meet again after December 21, when MDHHS approved Hambley's qualifications, to vote again on her appointment.
In her lawsuit, Hambley argues her demotion to interim health officer has stripped her of the ability to make decisions essential to her position.
Hambley alleges in her lawsuit that board members have interfered with discussions surrounding the extension of a contract with a community dental center.
She also alleges that they are interfering with her ability to apply for certain grants and that they were refusing to cooperate with a county-wide hospital/ community health needs survey being done.
She says the demotion was a "constructive termination of her employment as the health officer for the county," and that her complete termination as an employee of the county is "imminent."
According to Michigan law, the position of health officer cannot be terminated without just cause.
Hambley asserts in the lawsuit that her demotion was "philosophical and political", claiming the commissioners opposed "the exercise of many of the health officer's statutory powers under state law to initiate orders and other actions for protection of the public health."
Attorneys for county commissioners appealed the April 18 order.
Following the Court of Appeals' June 6 ruling, attorneys for Ottawa County commissioners have 35 days to file a brief on their appeal. Attorneys for Hambley will then have 21 days to file their response.
