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Dispute in Dearborn over Human Resources Director

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A lawsuit may take place over Valerie Murphy-Goodrich and her recent firing as the attorneys are continuing to argue over the legality of the entire situation. Murphy-Goodrich was working for the city for over a decade, since 1994 to be exact. However, she was fired less than a month ago, with a vote of 3-0 from the Civil Service Commission, which is where she reported to because she was working as the human resource director. The apparent reason Murphy-Goodrich was fired was because she failed to follow through with recommendations that came from an operation study made in 2011.

The attorney who is representing Murphy-Goodrich, Scott Erskine, refused to comment but stated that the reason behind her firing was untrue. He also made it clear that the way she was terminated was not followed through correctly, especially considering the position she was working in. He says that the firing took place only because the Commission Chair, Margaret Schaefer, wanted to fire Murphy-Goodrich since 2010, back when she had controlled the movement of the commission, having them re-appoint Marge Powell, a close friend of hers. Erskine says that Schaefer has since had it in for Murphy-Goodrich and has been trying for more than two years to get her fired.

In the meantime, city attorneys are arguing that the firing was completely justified. In fact, it has been said that when she was first fired, Murphy-Goodrich did not even argue about the reasons as to why she was fired. She instead objected to the firing due to how it happened and whether or not it followed the correct procedure. Kim Craig, the negotiation for the Lead City Labor, says that Murphy-Goodrich was simply not performing to the expectations of the commission and also stated that she received notices before her firing, stating that she was not performing as expected and needed to make adjustments, which she failed to do.

Erskin disagrees with this statement and says that even if an appeal falls through; his client will be pursuing any legal option possible. As of right now, it is well-known that there are some differing opinions on the human resources director position, as the city charter talks different about the position within different sections. This sort of confusion is not something new to the area of Dearborn, as a former district court probation officer once filed and won a lawsuit back in 2011. The former district court probation officer was Simone Calvas and the lawsuit that was filed had to do with her being fired, which she felt was not justified. When all was said and done, she came out winning and that is always a possibility for Murphy-Goodrich as well.

Dispute in Dearborn over Human Resources Director by
Authored by: Harrison Barnes