Case: Nowacki v. Department of Corrections

On August 1, 2011, Tom Nowacki filed this class action against the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) on behalf of himself and other male corrections officers who had allegedly been denied employment assignments and opportunities at women's correctional facilities on the basis of their sex, in violation of the Michigan Civil Rights Act. The suit was filed in Washtenaw County Circuit Court. The plaintiff sought monetary damages as well as injunctive and declaratory relief. Before this lawsuit, MDOC had reached settlements with female inmates who alleged sexual abuse by male corrections officers. These settlements allegedly resulted in only female corrections officers being assigned to certain assignments at women's facilities.

On June 21, 2012, the court granted class certification. According to the August 2014 Michigan Court of Appeals decision cited below, the class consisted of approximately 80 male corrections officers who, like the plaintiff, had allegedly been denied work opportunities in women's prisons on the basis of their gender. In June 2013, following a year of discovery including multiple depositions, the parties filed motions for summary judgment. But on June 28, 2013, the suit was stayed while the defendant appealed the court's certification of the plaintiff's class.

On August 19, 2014, Judges Saad, Owens, and Kelly of the Michigan Court of Appeals issued a per curiam opinion holding that the lower court had not erred in granting the plaintiff's class certification. 2014 WL 4088041. On September 19, 2014, the defendant appealed the Court of Appeals' decisions to the Michigan Supreme Court. The Michigan Supreme Court declined to hear the appeal in a one-sentence order issued July 1, 2015.

On remand to the trial court, the defendant successfully moved to have the plaintiff's equitable and declaratory claims transferred to the Michigan Court of Claims. Because the adjudication of the equitable and declaratory claims would require a delay of the suit for damages, the plaintiff moved to voluntarily dismiss the equitable and declaratory claims, submitting that its primary objective was money damages. The Court of Claims granted the plaintiff's motion, and the defendant appealed the granting of the voluntary dismissal to the Michigan Court of Appeals.

On March 14, 2017, the Michigan Court of Appeals (Judges Krause, O'Connell, and Meter) affirmed the Court of Claims' grant of the plaintiff's motion for voluntary dismissal of the equitable and declaratory claims, and the case proceeded towards a trial for money damages in Washtenaw County Circuit Court. On remand, the plaintiff filed for summary judgment, but the motion was denied and the Michigan Court of Appeals declined to hear an appeal.

A jury trial in the case was scheduled for March 25, 2019 and the case is ongoing.