By Jon King/jking@whmi.com


The Village of Milford will mediate out of court one of the two lawsuits filed against it by former employees.

The first lawsuit was filed last October by former maintenance employee Corey LeMarbe alleging violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act as well as a hostile work environment. LeMarbe suffers from hand tremors and worked in the DPS garage from October of 2015 to September of 2018, where he was said to be able to perform all of the essential functions of his job despite his disability. LeMarbe was moved to the waste water department in September 2018 but requested to be transferred back to his old duties due to the difficulty of taking water measurements. LeMarbe was eventually terminated in April of 2019. At a recent status conference, the case was ordered to facilitative mediation, in which a neutral third-party mediator engages both parties in conversations to try and reach a shared resolution. A status conference was set for August 25th to determine what progress, if any, has been made.

Meanwhile, a second lawsuit filed against the village remains active, with a potential trial date set for February of 2021. In that case, Michael Esson, the Village’s former assistant public services director, alleges violations of Michigan’s Whistleblower Protection Act, extortion, retaliation, racketeering, freedom of speech issues and violations of due process. The complaint alleges that Esson was fired after alerting village officials that Public Services Director Robert Calley and would only approve his vacation requests for side jobs in exchange for a portion of his earnings. A State Police investigation determined the allegations were not credible. Both lawsuits seek damages in excess of $75,000.