Group says governor has ‘completely failed’
Oral arguments in suit scheduled for April 22
Saying Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has “completely failed” in managing the COVID-19 health crisis, a spokesman for a Macomb County restaurant group that has sued Michigan officials over a state shutdown said he is anxious to bring the matter to court.
After more than a year into Whitmer’s handling of the pandemic “it is now absolutely clear that Gov. Whitmer and her loyalists have completely failed in managing COVID-19. Michigan is dead last in slowing the spread of the coronavirus,” the organization said in a release.
In February, the newlyformed Macomb County Restaurant, Bar and Banquet Association filed a lawsuit against Whitmer and other state officials seeking economic damages suffered because of the state’s coronavirus shutdowns and restrictions.
Judge Cynthia Stephens of the Michigan Court of Claims has scheduled oral arguments to take place via Zoom video conferencing April 22 on a motion asking the case be thrown out of court.
That’s welcome news, according to Samuel Backos, spokesperson for the association. He believes the group’s legal challenge has lasted longer than any other COVID-19 related litigation brought so far.
“Our attorney feels it’s good news,” said Backos, owner of Ernie’s on 19 Mile Road in Clinton Township. “At least she is moving with proceeding with the case. All the other cases have been dismissed without arguments. She is willing to listen before she makes up her mind.”
Albert Addis, the Macomb County attorney representing the restaurant association, alleges the eminent domain article of the state constitution bars the “taking” of the plaintiff’s property — the bar and restaurant business — without compensation. He is “encouraged” by the judge setting a date for oral arguments.
“The state Attorney General does not want any discovery, they do not want to show us the documentation they are using to close the bars and restaurants — because there is none,” he said.
Addis has also filed an injunction with the Court of Claims asking the 11 p.m. curfew imposed by the state to be immediately lifted.
“We know that there is no scientific basis for this ridiculous order and it will be overturned,” Backos said in a news release. “The virus does not behave any differently at 9 p.m., 10 p.m. or midnight.”
The lawsuit comes at a time when Michigan is confronting the highest two-week COVID-19 case rate in the country. On Wednesday, Whitmer announced the state will expand the use of a COVID-19 treatment in hopes of stopping the climbing hospitalizations and deaths.