By Jon King / jking@whmi.com


A motion has been denied to dismiss a federal lawsuit filed against the Village of Milford by a former employee.

The lawsuit was filed in 2019 by former maintenance employee Corey LeMarbe alleging violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act as well as a hostile work environment. LeMarbe suffers from hand tremors and worked in the DPS garage from October of 2015 to September of 2018, where he was said to be able to perform all of the essential functions of his job despite his disability.

LeMarbe was moved to the wastewater department in September 2018 but requested to be transferred back to his old duties due to the difficulty of taking water measurements. LeMarbe was eventually terminated in April of 2019.

A motion by the village to dismiss the lawsuit was recently denied by U.S District Court Judge David Lawson, who ruled that there was sufficient evidence for a jury to conclude that LeMarbe’s request for an accommodation for his condition “was denied for petty and vindictive reasons” and that his subsequent termination was “motivated by managerial hostility” to his requests for an accommodation or for threats to sue for one rather than any genuine grounds for discipline.

The lawsuit, which is set to go to trial in June of next year, names former Public Services Director Robert Calley. Calley was also named in another lawsuit filed by the Village’s former assistant public services director, Michael Esson, who alleged violations of Michigan’s Whistleblower Protection Act after he was fired after alerting village officials that Calley and would only approve his vacation requests for side jobs in exchange for a portion of his earnings. That case was settled out of court late last year.