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.