- February 16, 2016
- Firm News
- Personal Injury
Mohammad Huda, a Hamtramck school board member, has filed a lawsuit against the school district and his fellow board members after he was removed from office last month amid questions about his residency. Huda’s seat has been vacant since January 13.Huda’s complaint has been filed with the Wayne County Circuit Court, stating that his removal was unlawful and that his constitutional right to due process was violated by the board and school district. Huda was originally elected for a six-year term on November 4, 2014 and is demanding reinstatement.
Huda was asked to resign his position in July, only six months after his appointment, after the district hired a private fraud investigator who allegedly found an “overwhelming amount of evidence” pointing to Huda’s skirting of residency laws requiring him to live within the boundaries of the district. Huda declined to resign.
According to the lawsuit, the district superintendent first questioned Huda’s residency in a letter to the Michigan Secretary of State’s office. In a response from an election law specialist, it was confirmed that Huda was registered to vote in Hamtramck since relocating from Warren in April 2014. It was left up to the Hamtramck city clerk to make any determinations about Huda’s residency.
Huda’s attorney, Mark Brewer of Goodman Acker P.C., confirmed that Huda resides in Hamtramck, and that the clerk concluded that Huda is a resident and can continue to vote.
The district then wrote to Governor Rick Snyder in December asking him to remove Huda from office. In a letter back from Travis Weber, deputy legal counsel for the governor, he responded that they would not pursue removal actions because, if the board’s accusations were true, then Huda voluntarily vacated his seat by not living within the boundaries of the district.
Upon receiving this letter, the board approved Huda’s removal on a 5-1 vote.
Brewer, however, contends that the board did not have the authority to take this action, as Michigan law requires a hearing before a judge in order to challenge an individual’s right to hold office.
To contact a Detroit lawyer at Goodman Acker P.C., please call (248) 286-8100.