A lawsuit has been filed against Michigan Governor GretchenWhitmer,accusing her of violating constitutional rights in an executive order to help stop the spread of thecoronavirus.
Law firm Butzel Long filed the suit on behalf of five local businesses, suggestingWhitmer's "Stay Home, Stay Safe" order,which isdue to end on May 15, was based on "speculative modeling" on the infectiousness andlethalityofCOVID-19.
"GovernorWhitmerhas issued executive orders that have shuttered civil society, placed 10 million people under house arrest, and taken jobs away from nearly 1.2 million people, all without due process of law," the lawsuit states.
"The Governor has not disclosed the data or methodology used to create the modeling that purportedly justifies this extreme action."
Among the businesses named in the suit are Sotheby's International Realty, a Michigan-based residential brokerage; Executive Property Maintenance (EPM), which provides commercial, municipal and residential clients with lawn, snow and ice maintenance and other landscaping services; andIntracoCorporation, which exports architectural and automotive glass, automotive chemicals and other goods.
The other two businesses areCasiteIntraco, a wholly-owned subsidiary ofIntracothat exports engine oil and car products, andHillsdaleJewelers, a fully closed business that has seen all three of its workers become unemployed as a result ofWhitmer's order.
The suit accusesWhitmerof preventing assessments on whether it is justifiable tolock downthe entire state to help prevent further spread of the outbreak by suspending the Freedom of Information Act through to June 4.