Macomb County Hires Lawyer To Defend Clerk Karen Spranger

MACOMB COUNTY, MI – The Macomb County Board of Commissioners voted Thursday to approve the hiring of an attorney to represent the legal interests of the county and County Clerk Karen Spranger in a pending federal lawsuit filed by former deputy county clerks. The board voted unanimously to approve the contract, but made it contingent upon Spranger’s acknowledgement of receipt and her compliance with terms and conditions expressed in a letter provided to her following the vote.

“The Board was reluctant to hire additional outside counsel to represent the clerk in this lawsuit,” Board Chairman Bob Smith. “However, the allegations are being taken seriously and, after deliberation, we have accepted Corporation Counsel’s recommendation that this is the best course of action.”

A pair of former deputy clerks filed a civil rights and whistle-blower lawsuit against Spranger last month and are seeking reinstatement to their jobs, compensatory and punitive damages, and reimbursement for legal fees. Spranger, a Republican, was elected to the dual post of clerk and registered of deeds last November and took office on Jan. 1, 2017.

She appointed Paul Kardasz as her chief deputy clerk and Erin Stahl as her deputy register of deeds to handle day-to-day operations. Spranger fired both at-will employees earlier in March after they filed ethics complaints against her with the county. The lawsuit filed by Kardasz and Stahl claims their firings violated their First Amendment rights and the Michigan Whistleblower Protection Act, the Detroit News reported.

They also claim they were terminated after they reported that the clerk was “unfit to serve” and that “citizens dependent on the services of the Clerk’s office were being harmed by the mismanagement of that office.” Kardasz and Stahl said via the lawsuit the clerk’s office is in “full blown crisis mode,” the Detroit News reported. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Detroit.

It’s not the first drama with Spranger. Macomb County suspended her access to its computer system in January after she allegedly allowed two non-county employees to use the system. Spranger’s computer privileges were only restored after she signed an acknowledgement Tuesday saying she had received the county's technology policy, according to a report in the Detroit Free Press. Deputy County Executive Mark Deldin told the newspaper the acknowledgement was a condition for Spranger to have privileges restored.

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