On October 15, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled against MEA and our union allies in our fight for extra interest in the 3% case.  After receiving that decision, MEA had to determine whether or not to file a request for leave to appeal the decision to the Michigan Supreme Court.  This was done in consultation with outside counsel using the standards set forth in the MEA Legal Representation Policy as adopted by the MEA Board and MEA Representative Assembly.

In so doing, we have determined that filing a request for leave to appeal did not meet the standards set forth in the Legal Representation Policy and furthermore could open the door to a potentially harmful outcome for our members.  Of note, lawyers for the other unions involved in the case – AFT Michigan and AFSCME – came to similar conclusions leading them to also choose not to appeal.

On appeal, the State raised an issue related to our initial filing in the 3% issue.  Specifically, they argued that some of the initial complaints did not comply with a State statute that requires complaints to be verified.  Although, the Court of Appeals found in our favor on this issue, there is no guarantee that the Michigan Supreme Court would do the same.  In balancing the benefits of taking this case further with the potential risk for harm we have decided to forgo filing with the Michigan Supreme Court.