Case Examples

Law Office of Glen N. Lenhoff

Case Examples

Kelly Caudell v Flint Community Schools, Genesee County Circuit Court Case No. 12-97415-CL (Hon. Geoffrey L. Neithercut)

Kelly Caudell was a teacher in the Flint school district. Ms. Caudell was the victim of sex harassment, and had the courage to bring a sex harassment lawsuit against the Flint School District. The Caudell case was eventually settled for $600,000. The Caudell settlement should act as an inspiration to other victims of sex harassment.

Donald Dinkgrave v Genova Products, Genesee County Circuit Court Case No. 14-103756-CL (Hon. Judith A. Fullerton).

Donald Dinkgave was a long-term employee of Genova Products, a business located in Genesee County. After Mr. Dinkgrave was fired, the Law Office of Glen N. Lenhoff brought an age discrimination lawsuit on his behalf. On the eve of trial, the Dinkgrave case settled for $550,000.00.

Yolanda Larry v Hurley Medical Center, Genesee County Circuit Court Case No. 12-99049-CL (Hon. Richard B. Yuille)

Yolanda Larry was fired from her position as a Patient Advocate at Hurley Medical Center. Her discharge was based on trumped up charges. In a 2014 Jury Trial in Genesee County Circuit Court, the Law Office of Glen N. Lenhoff won a Jury Verdict of $183,625. Furthermore, the Law Office of Glen N. Lenhoff is litigating an accompanying Federal Court case based on the denial of Ms. Larry’s federal rights.

Michael Clum v Jackson National Life Insurance Co., Ingham County Circuit Court Case No. 10-000126-CL (Hon. Paula J. M. Manderfield)

Michael Clum was employed as a maintenance worker at Jackson National Life Insurance Company for 10 years. Although Mr. Clum had an excellent work record, there were occasional incidents of tension between Mr. Clum and an African-American co-worker named James DeMyers. In October of 2009, Clum was discharged – supposedly because he made a threatening remark to DeMyers.

The Clum case was tried to a jury in 2011. At trial, Lead Counsel Glen Lenhoff and Second Chair Robert Kent-Bryant showed that Mr. Clum was not culpable in the incident in question. In spite of his innocent conduct, Mr. Clum was discharged in an act of reverse racial discrimination. The Jury awarded Mr. Clum $1,093,000 in damages.

Craig Hecht v National Heritage Academies, Genesee County Circuit Court Case No. 10-93161-CL (Hon. Geoffrey L. Neithercut)

In 2011, Mr. Lenhoff was Lead Trial Counsel in the case of Craig Hecht v National Heritage Academies, Genesee County Circuit Court Case No. 10-93161-CL (Hon. Geoffrey L. Neithercut). Mr. Lenhoff was assisted by his able Second Chair Robert D. Kent-Bryant.

In the Hecht case, a diligent and honorable charter school teacher, Craig Hecht, was discharged from his teaching position because of a harmless racial joke. Mr. Hecht had heard African-American employees utter racial jokes in the past. Mr. Hecht observed that no other employee had ever been discharged for telling racial jokes. Mr. Hecht’s students – both white and African-American – greatly respected Mr. Hecht’s teaching abilities.

In a clear case of reverse racial discrimination, Mr. Hecht was discharged from his job. He was discharged despite his record of skill, diligence and racial sensitivity. A Jury comprised of five white people and two African-American people unanimously found in favor of Craig Hecht and awarded $535,000 in damages.

On July 25, 2016, the Michigan Supreme Court, in a lengthy Opinion, affirmed that Mr. Hecht, a white male, was indeed the victim of racial discrimination in connection with this discharge from his teaching position at National Heritage Academies. Hecht is thus a significant Michigan Supreme Court case in the field of employment discrimination law.

Keith Speer v City of Flint, Genesee County Circuit Court Case No. 08-088276-CD (Hon. Judith A. Fullerton)

In 2009, Mr. Lenhoff was Trial Counsel in the case of Keith Speer v City of Flint. Mr. Lenhoff won a Jury Verdict of $131,000 in the Speer case. After the Trial Court awarded attorney fees and costs, Speer settled for $305,000 – a result far better than the $60,000 settlement amount that was recommended by a Genesee County Circuit Court Case Evaluation Panel. Speer was a particularly important trial because it was the first trial in the multi-plaintiff reverse discrimination litigation involving the Citizens Service Bureau, a 5-member elite Flint Police Department bureau that was created by then-City of Flint Mayor Donald Williamson in a blatant act of reverse racial discrimination.

Click the play button on the video to view television coverage of the Speer reverse discrimination trial involving Glen Lenhoff cross-examining then Flint Mayor Don Williamson.

Eventually, the remaining Citizens Service Bureau cases went to Arbitration. The Arbitrators awarded $2,621,424 to the remaining Citizens Service Bureau Plaintiffs.

Gary Trepanier v National Amusements, Genesee County Circuit Court Case No. 98-64002-CL (Hon. Archie L. Hayman)

Mr. Lenhoff won a published Michigan Court of Appeals victory in the case of Gary Trepanier v National Amusements, 250 Mich App 578 (2002). The Trepanier case was then remanded for a Jury Trial conducted by Mr. Lenhoff.

On April 6, 2004, the Jury awarded Mr. Trepanier $3,073,500. Trepanier was the largest single-plaintiff Michigan Whistleblowers' Protection Act Verdict ever rendered. Thus, in addition to making new appellate law, the Law Office of Glen N. Lenhoff won the largest single-plaintiff Whistleblowers' Jury Verdict in the history of Michigan.

Stephen Buszek v Delta Community College, Bay County Circuit Court Case No. 00-3843-CL (Hon. Kenneth W. Schmidt)

In the year of 2002, in the case of Stephen Buszek v Delta Community College, Glen Lenhoff won a Jury Verdict of $1,546,900. Mr. Buszek, a white male, had been denied a teaching position in the Delta Community College Criminal Justice Department due to Delta's desire to hire a female professor. Buszek still stands as the largest single-plaintiff employment discrimination verdict in the history of Northeastern Michigan.

Luther Hatchett v Dupont, Genesee County Circuit Court Case No. 88-095764-CL (Hon. Thomas C. Yeotis)

In the Hatchett case, Mr. Lenhoff won a Jury Verdict of $1,505,000 on behalf of a long-term Dupont employee.

Grace Dzyngel v Argentine Care Center, Genesee County Circuit Court Case No. 96-46961-CL (Hon. Archie L. Hayman)

In the Dzyngel case, Attorney Lenhoff won a $760,000 Jury Verdict on behalf of a nursing home worker who was discharged in violation of the Michigan Whistleblowers' Protection Act.

James LeGrow v David Trippett, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan Case No. 96-CV-74072 (Hon. Patrick J. Duggan)

In the LeGrow case, Mr. Lenhoff won a $975,000 Jury Verdict on behalf of a prison guard who was discharged in violation of the First Amendment.

The foregoing verdicts are just a sample of the many large jury verdicts won by the Law Office of Glen N. Lenhoff. No law firm in the State of Michigan has won as many employment discrimination jury verdicts as the Law Office of Glen N. Lenhoff has over the past 25 years.

In addition to jury verdicts, the Law Office of Glen N. Lenhoff has successfully litigated many cases to conclusion through Arbitration and settlement. In addition, the Law Office of Glen N. Lenhoff has successfully obtained reinstatement for wrongfully discharged employees on occasion. Furthermore, the Law Office of Glen N. Lenhoff won two appellate reversals in the case of Dennis Goodman v Genesee County. Goodman, a reverse discrimination case, eventually settled for $425,000 on the eve of trial after the two reversals.

Finally, the Law Office of Glen N. Lenhoff has been successful in class action and multi-plaintiff litigation. A famous class action involving the Law Office of Glen N. Lenhoff was the case of Streeter v Ford Motor Company, Wayne County Circuit Court Case No. 01-105949-CL, Mr. Lenhoff was one of the Lead Counsel in Streeter. The Streeter case eventually settled for the sum of $10,600,000.

The Law Office of Glen N. Lenhoff was the lead law firm in the multi-plaintiff case of Porter v City of Flint. Porter involves the legality of an elite 5-person Flint Police Department called the “Citizens Service Bureau”. The Citizens Service Bureau was supposedly created to enhance crime fighting in the City of Flint. In reality, the Citizens Service Bureau was formed for the purpose of increasing the number of African-American officers in command positions in the City of Flint Police Department. By deliberately taking race into account, then-City of Flint Mayor Donald Williamson violated the United States Constitution and Michigan Civil Rights Act.

In July of 2011, a blue ribbon Arbitration Panel awarded the Porter Plaintiffs the sum of $2,621,424 in damages, plus attorney fees and costs. Porter was an important victory for police officers who suffer race-conscious employment practices.

In the litigation that resulted from the Citizens Service Bureau, the Law Office of Glen N. Lenhoff won the significant Jury Verdict and Arbitration Award referred to above.

The Law Office of Glen N. Lenhoff is co-counsel in the case of Thomas Nowacki, et al. v State of Michigan Department of Corrections, Washtenaw County Circuit Court Case No. 11-000852-CD (Hon. Timothy P. Connors). Nowacki is a class action arising out of reverse gender discrimination against male corrections officers employed at the women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility (WHV). The Nowacki case has been certified as a class action, and the Michigan Court of Appeals has affirmed the Order of Class Certification. The Nowacki case is another example of the skill of the Law Office of Glen N. Lenhoff in multi-plaintiff and class action litigation.

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