A federal lawsuit filed by former Ottawa County Commissioner Chris Kleinjans against three officials with Michigan State University has been dismissed.
The decision from Judge Hala Jarbou comes three months after the Ottawa County Board voted to accept a mediator-proposed settlement of $112,500 to resolve the suit’s complaint against Commissioner Joe Moss.
Kleinjans filed the lawsuit after he was terminated from his role with the Michigan State University Extension in June 2024, shortly after being sworn into office following a successful recall campaign against District 2’s Lucy Ebel.
Kleinjans wasn’t re-elected in November.
In his filing, Kleinjans argued the MSU Extension bowed to “political pressure” from Moss, the board’s previous chair, in deciding to fire him. The organization, however, cited the Incompatible Public Offices Act 556 of 1978 — saying a clear conflict of interest existed because commissioners approve funding for the extension’s services.
Jarbou denied a preliminary request to have Kleinjans reinstated to his position in August 2024. Jarbou didn’t dispute that Moss sought “political retribution,” but said the extension seemed to rebuff those efforts.
In an earlier filing, Moss wrote he’s “never had any supervisory authority over (Kleinjans); has never been (Kleinjans’) employer; and has no ability to alter (Kleinjans’) working conditions or the status of his employment with MSU.”
In the new opinion dated March 16, Jarbou granted summary judgement to M. Scott Korpak, Matthew Shane and Erin Moore of MSU “because they have established that they would have terminated Kleinjans regardless of his protected activity, and no reasonable jury could find otherwise based on the record before the court.”
An appeal has already been filed.
Kleinjans is now a community impact officer for the Allegan County Community Foundation. He recently announced his campaign for Michigan’s 31st Senate District.
— Cassidey Kavathas is the politics and court reporter at The Holland Sentinel. Contact her at ckavathas@hollandsentinel.com. Follow her on X @cassideykava.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Judge dismisses federal lawsuit from Kleinjans against MSU Extension
Reporting by Cassidey Kavathas, Holland Sentinel / The Holland Sentinel
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