SUTTONS BAY -- A former Leelanau County department head who said his firing violated the Whistleblowers' Protection Act has new life in court.
A judge in June 2008 dismissed Robert VanDyke's lawsuit against the county and former County Administrator David Gill. VanDyke, who until 2007 served as county building official, contended he was fired because he reported code violations and substandard work performed by a county mechanical inspector, among other matters.
The Michigan Court of Appeals this week reversed the dismissal of two of three claims in VanDyke's suit and sent the case back to 13th Circuit Court for further proceedings.
"I was very pleased to see it come back," said Mark Hullman, VanDyke's attorney. "(It's) a very well-reasoned opinion and consistent with what I would have expected them to do."
The suit dealt with three separate actions by VanDyke that allegedly led to his firing, Hullman said. VanDyke believes each action was Whistleblower-protected activity.
The trial court believed there wasn't enough evidence to link any of the actions to VanDyke's firing, but the appeals court ruled that a reasonable jury could find a link between two of the actions and VanDyke's termination.
VanDyke cited an electrical contractor for having an unlicensed electrician on the job, and told Gill he believed a condo project had been wrongfully approved because of numerous existing code violations.
The court agreed those actions might be connected to VanDyke's firing, but agreed with the trial court that there isn't enough evidence to connect VanDyke's report of defective fire devices at the condo to the county's decision to fire him.
Bonnie Toskey, an attorney for Leelanau County, said she's "very surprised" by the appeals court ruling.
"We're very disappointed," she said. "We don't think the result is correct."
Toskey is confident the county ultimately will prevail.
"I think when the facts are presented to a jury, and they have a chance to look at the facts, a jury will conclude there was no relation between the termination of employment" and the actions for which VanDyke alleges he was fired, she said.
Robert Meyer replaced VanDyke as building official. Meyer retired last month, and the post is now held by Robert Mickevicius on an interim basis.
David Gill retired Jan. 1, 2009, and eventually was replaced by Eric Cline.
