Detroit, MI
Supreme Court to decide whether MSU misled Detroit College of Law retirees
LANSING – Michigan Supreme Court justices quizzed attorneys on Jan. 21 about whether Michigan State University failed to uphold contractual obligations made by the former Detroit College of Law after the schools merged was filed soon enough.
Elizabeth Watza, assistant general counsel for MSU, argued that the claim came outside of the statute of limitations, or in other words, wasn’t filed in time.
Mark Cousens, an attorney for a married couple who are both former employees of the Detroit College of Law and believe contractual obligations are owed to them, argued the university misled the couple about its obligations through the merger. And he noted MSU only shared a transfer agreement with the couple after their two-year window to bring a claim expired.
Amy and Robert McCormick filed the lawsuit against MSU in the fall of 2022 after learning of the terms of the merger between the university and the Detroit College of Law, which included terms that MSU would be responsible for paying and performing certain liabilities and obligations. The McCormicks have argued, including successfully in a 2-1 Michigan Court of Appeals decision, that MSU committed an act of fraudulent concealment by not notifying them sooner of the impact of the merger on them.
The McCormicks were both tenured faculty members at the Detroit College of Law before it merged with MSU in the summer of 2020. In 2013, they both agreed to resign from their positions with the law school “in exchange for certain contractual guarantees.” Robert McCormick retired in exchange for benefits, and Amy McCormick continued teaching as an emeritus professor, teaching one class per academic year while maintaining the healthcare coverage she received as a tenured faculty member.
As the merger developed, the couple had concerns about the Detroit College of Law, in whatever future form it took, honoring contractual obligations to them. They received mixed messages from officials, according to their lawsuit.
Amy McCormick was told by a Detroit College of Law dean that the integration would be done through a sale of assets rather than a merger, meaning MSU would not be responsible for any of the DCL’s responsibilities. And an attorney for MSU told Amy McCormick that any contract claims the couple had would have to be made against the Detroit College of Law.
The McCormicks initially pursued a claim against the Detroit College of Law. Then, in May of 2022, MSU notified the couple of the existence of a transfer agreement. Four months later, the couple filed the lawsuit the Supreme Court is hearing.
The McCormicks are arguing that MSU essentially tried to conceal the agreement.
Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Welch asked Watza whether she believed the clock should reset for any legal filings if fraudulent concealment was found in a case. Watza acknowledged resetting the clock would be appropriate in that instance.
However, Watza told justices that the McCormicks weren’t diligent in their inquiry with university officials about who might be responsible for claims.
Cousens argued MSU is responsible for fraudulently concealing the deal, citing an email from a university lawyer telling the couple the now-defunct entity of the DCL would be solely responsible for any contractual obligations.
“Michigan State hid its liability,” Cousens argued. “Now, this court should not endorse the ability of a defendant to hide behind lies and misrepresentations … the whole point here is Michigan State, deliberately or not deliberately misled the plaintiffs (the McCormicks), and as a result, the plaintiffs could not have known that they should have sued Michigan State, and when they learned, that’s when they filed suit.”
The court is expected to rule in the case at a later date.
Contact Karly Graham at kgraham@lsj.com. Follow her on X at @KarlyGrahamJrn.
DETROIT, MICH (WXYZ) — In partnership with The ALS Association, downtown Detroit parks will shine red May 10–16 in recognition of ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease) Awareness month.
A special kickoff event will take place from 7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. on Sunday, May 10, in Campus Martius Park. The event will allow families impacted by ALS to connect, learn about upcoming initiatives, and take part in a meaningful “END ALS” photo moment under the illuminated park lights.
You can reserve you spot by visiting:
https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=JlhGrOr9-kWQmmR_rZc61S9MfqDjPeBKvKV5YBqkMypUQThNMEs5TVpLRUY5R1FLV0o1WFExN1U4Uy4u
Detroit Tigers blow lead, lose to Kansas City Royals on walk-off hit.
The Tigers lost, 4-3, to the Royals on Kyle Isbel’s walk-off single in the ninth inning.
Kansas City, Mo. — The losing streak is now five games. The road record is now an MLB-worst 6-16.
The Kansas City Royals prolonged the Tigers’ misery Saturday night with a relatively breezy 5-1 win at Kauffman Stadium.
Oh, and the Tigers might’ve lost another player in the process.
Right fielder Kerry Carpenter left the game in the third inning. He banged his left shoulder running into the side wall chasing Bobby Witt Jr.’s first-inning, two-run, inside-the-park home run.
Witt, a right-handed hitter, sliced a drive inside the bag at first. Carpenter chased it toward the side wall, but the ball caromed past him. Witt never stopped running.
Carpenter stayed in the game and even rolled an infield single in the second inning. But he was replaced by Wenceel Perez when the Royals came to bat in the third inning.
BOX SCORE: Royals 5, Tigers 1
He was being evaluated during the game.
The two-run homer by Witt ended up being more than the Tigers’ sputtering offense could overcome. But, for good measure, Michael Massey added a three-run home run off Ty Madden in the fourth inning.
Madden ended up being one of the few bright spots in the game for the Tigers. He pitched six innings and allowed just one other hit. He set down the last 11 hitters he faced.
He entered in the third inning after opener Burch Smith and lefty Tyler Holton worked one time through the Royals’ batting order.
Holton made a nifty escape in the first inning. With runners at second and third and one out, and two runs already in, Jac Caglianone hit a hard ground ball to second baseman Zach McKinstry, who was playing in on the grass.
McKinstry got the out at first. The runner at second, Carter Jensen, mistakenly broke for third where Vinnie Pasquantino was holding.
Spencer Torkelson threw to shortstop Kevin McGonigle who threw to catcher Jake Rogers once Pasquantino broke for home — your basic 4-3-6-2 double-play.
Not much else went the Tigers’ way.
Royals right-hander Michael Wacha snuffed out the few scoring opportunities the Tigers mustered.
He worked around an error and a McKinstry stolen base in the third innings. He got Jake Rogers to pop to shallow right field with runners at first and third and one out and then got Matt Vierling to ground out with the bases loaded in the fifth.
Wacha allowed two hits in seven innings. The Tigers put 18 balls in play against him with a soft average exit velocity of 84.4 mph.
The Tigers broke through in the eighth against lefty reliever Matt Strahm. And it was left-handed hitters who did the dirty work. Riley Greene, who extended his career-high on-base streak to 20 games, doubled home McGonigle.
This season is a long way from over but Tigers, 18-22, are in serious need a course correction.
Chris.McCosky@detroitnews.com
@cmccosky
4Warn Weather – SATURDAY: Mostly cloudy skies. A chance of showers and thunderstorms. A few storms could be strong with gusty winds and hail. High: 71.
SATURDAY NIGHT: Mostly cloudy skies, becoming partly cloudy skies late. Low: 45.
SUNDAY (MOTHER’S DAY): Mix of sunshine and clouds, cooler temperatures. High: 61.
SUNDAY NIGHT: Partly cloudy skies. Another chilly night. Low: 41.
MONDAY: Mostly sunny skies, remaining chilly. High: 58.
After a beautiful end to the week on Friday with sunshine and a little cloud cover, with warmer temperatures moving into the region as well, some of us are waking up to some patchy dense fog on Saturday morning. Some places south of M-59 are seeing reduced visibilities down to around a mile. If you do run into some patchy dense fog, be sure to use your low beams.
That warming trend continues into the start of the weekend on Saturday, but it also brings a chance of showers and thunderstorms. Another cold front will work through the region by Saturday afternoon and early Saturday evening and that will bring our thunderstorm chance. High temperature is warming into low 70s by Saturday afternoon.
The Storm Prediction Center has placed most of the region under a Marginal Risk (1 out of 5) on our severe weather scale for the start of the weekend. Gusty winds and hail are the primary threats as we work through the start of the weekend, but this will not be a widespread threat for severe thunderstorms.
Behind that cold front for the end of the weekend on Sunday, we will keep a mixture of sunshine and clouds into the forecast. High temperatures running about 10 to 15° cooler to end the weekend. Expect high to warm into the upper 50s to lower 60s by Sunday afternoon.
Drier weather sticks around for the start of next week, before another chance of rain moves into the region by the time we get to Tuesday. The cooler-than-average temperatures will continue into the start of next week as well. Expect high temperatures to remain in the 50s for Monday and Tuesday.
Temperature start to warm up by the middle of next week, and Drier weather moves back in by Wednesday behind another cold front moving into the region. Expect high temperatures into the lower 60s on Wednesday to warm into the upper 60s by the time we get to Thursday. Above average temperatures move back into the region as we look ahead into the end of the week, expect high temperatures back into the lower 70s by the time we get to Friday.
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