Whistleblower Lawsuit Filed Against Macomb County's Karen Spranger

CLINTON TOWNSHIP, MI — Trouble continues to mount for embattled Macomb County Clerk/Register of Deeds Karen Spranger. A pair of former deputy clerks filed a civil rights and whistle-blower lawsuit against her Friday 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 this month 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.

"Spranger regularly skipped important meetings with county and union officials ... referred to her unionized employees as 'enemies' and was openly disrespectful to these long-term employees whose knowledge, skills and experience were vital to the efficient management of the clerk's office," the lawsuit states, according to the Detroit News.

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.

Photo by Douglas Palmer via Flickr Commons