Bill Text: MI SB0048 | 2017-2018 | 99th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Civil rights; speech and assembly; public employees of local units of government who communicate with elected officials; protect from employment sanctions. Creates new act.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-01-18 - Referred To Committee On Government Operations [SB0048 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2017-SB0048-Introduced.html
SENATE BILL No. 48
January 18, 2017, Introduced by Senators ZORN, HORN, NOFS and STAMAS and referred to the Committee on Government Operations.
A bill to prohibit local units of government from imposing
sanctions on certain employees for communications with elected
officials; and to provide for remedies.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the
"communications with elected officials act".
Sec. 2. As used in this act:
(a) "Elected official" means a person who holds any elective
office in federal, state, or local government.
(b) "Public employee" means an individual who is a direct
employee of a public employer or who regularly provides services
for a public employer as an indirect employee through an employment
agency.
(c) "Public employer" includes all of the following and their
officers and agents:
(i) A local unit of government.
(ii) Any intergovernmental, metropolitan, or local department,
agency, or authority, or other political subdivision of this state.
(iii) A school district, a public school academy, or an
intermediate school district, as those terms are defined in
sections 4 to 6 of the revised school code, 1976 PA 451, MCL 380.4
to 380.6.
Sec. 3. (1) A public employer shall not discharge, threaten,
or otherwise discriminate against a public employee regarding the
public employee's compensation, terms, conditions, location, or
privileges of employment because the public employee, or a person
acting on behalf of the public employee, speaks with an elected
public official.
(2) This act does not do any of the following:
(a) Diminish or impair the rights of a person under any
collective bargaining agreement.
(b) Permit a disclosure or protect a public employee from
sanctions for a disclosure that violates state or federal law or
that diminishes or impairs the rights of any person to the
continued statutory or common law protection of the confidentiality
of communications or other information.
Sec. 4. (1) A person who alleges a violation of this act may
bring a civil action for injunctive relief, damages, or both
injunctive relief and damages in a court of appropriate
jurisdiction within 90 days after the alleged violation.
(2) As used in subsection (1), "damages" means damages for
injury or loss caused by each violation of this act, including
reasonable attorney fees.
(3) In an action under this act, a court may order
reinstatement of the public employee, payment of back wages,
reinstatement of fringe benefits and seniority rights, damages, or
any combination of these remedies. The court may also award the
complainant all or a portion of the costs of litigation, including
reasonable attorney fees and witness fees.
Enacting section 1. This act takes effect 90 days after the
date it is enacted into law.
