Court Administrator Gets Partial Win In Claim for Retaliation and Discrimination

In Pucci v. Nineteenth District Court, (ED MI, July 10, 2008), a Michigan federal district judge permitted Julie Pucci, the former deputy administrator of a Michigan state court, to proceed with certain of her claims against the court's chief judge, Mark W. Somers. The federal court decision rejected Pucci's claim that the elimination of her postition as deputy administrator was motivated by Somers' religious objections to her live-in relationship with another judge on the court with whom Somers clashed. However the federal court permitted Pucci to move ahead with her First Amendment claim that her termination was in retaliation for her complaints about Somers' preaching religious beliefs from the civil court bench. The Dearborn (MI) Press & Guide reported on the decision in its Sunday edition. (See prior related posting.)