Teachers unions are calling on Governor Snyder and Attorney General Bill Schuette not to appeal a ruling by the Court of Claims last week. The court said that school employees are entitled to additional interest payments on a portion of their salaries withheld to pay down retiree health care costs. The ruling is the culmination of an eight year dispute between school employees and the state over a 2010 law allowing the state to withhold 3 percent of their salaries to pay down retiree health care costs.
The funds were withheld between 2010 and 2012, and held in escrow. In 2017, the Michigan Supreme Court struck down the law that allowed the state to withhold the money, and funds were returned with a small amount of interest.
Doug Pratt is with the Michigan Education Association. “Governor Snyder and Attorney General Schuette shouldn't even contemplate appealing this ruling. School employees waited seven long years to get money returned to them, and the amount of interest that was paid to them was insulting,” says Pratt.
The court said the employees should receive interest in accordance with state law related to money judgments. The exact amount of interest due has not yet been determined. Pratt says it could be hundreds of dollars for some employees.
