Accomplishments

We’ve won many victories in the last decade. Here are a few of the wins we’re most proud of.

Meet the Legal Team

Patrick J. Wright Vice President for Legal Affairs

Victory at the Michigan Supreme Court

During the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer unilaterally extended her emergency powers without the legally required permission of the Michigan Legislature. This unconstitutional action prompted the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation to step in and sue the governor on behalf of three medical practices and one patient. The case eventually made its way to the Michigan Supreme Court, where the court unanimously decided that the governor’s actions were unconstitutional. You can read more about this landmark case here.

Ending Union Dues Skim in Michigan

In 2009, the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation represented three home day care workers who were victims of improper unionization. They were entered into unions without their consent, and dues were automatically taken from their paychecks without their knowledge or approval. As a result of our lawsuit, the Snyder administration determined that home day care providers are not public employees and could not be unionized as such. This ensured that private day care owners across the state regained control of their wages. You can read more about this victory here.

Halting Arbitrary Opt Out Windows

After Michigan became a right-to-work state in 2012, unions did all they could to prevent workers from exercising their new right to fully disassociate from a union. Unions put arbitrary and unconstitutional restrictions on workers’ right to resign their union membership. The Mackinac Center Legal Foundation filed unfair labor practice complaints on behalf of eight teachers who had been prevented from leaving their union due to an arbitrary “opt out window.” This limited public school teachers’ right to resign to the month of August. Following our victorious legal case, Michigan teachers are now allowed to opt out of any time of year. You can read more about this important case here.

Rejection of the Chevron Doctrine

A 2008 amicus brief to the Michigan Supreme Court argued that Michigan law prohibits the Legislature from delegating its authority to the executive branch without safeguards in place to limit the use of this power. This argument has been increasingly acknowledged and accepted by Michigan courts, ultimately culminating in the state Supreme Court throwing out some agency powers and overruling Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's COVID-19 executive orders. This brief and subsequent case is helping lay the groundwork for the U.S. Supreme Court to reaffirm the separation of powers at the federal level and claw back overreach from regulatory agencies. You can read the amicus brief here.

Workers Freed from Agency Fees

Following Michigan’s 2012 right-to-work law, unions attempted to prevent certain state employees from enjoying these rights. This led to a case being brought to the Michigan Supreme Court questioning whether the Michigan Civil Service Commission could collect agency fees in conflict with Michigan’s right-to-work law. The Mackinac Center Legal Foundation submitted an amicus brief in the case, which argued that these employees cannot be forced to pay union dues or fees. The court agreed and freed over 35,000 Michigan workers.

Giving Worker Freedom to All Public Employees

The 2018 United States Supreme Court Case Janus v. AFSCME spread right-to-work rights to all public employees nationwide. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Mark Janus, a public worker from Illinois, that no public worker in America can be forced to belong or pay money to a union. The Mackinac Center Legal Foundation wrote an amicus brief that was cited in the Supreme Court’s decision. You can read the Mackinac Center’s brief here.