19th District Court Judge Mark Somers.

DEARBORN — On Friday, Feb. 13, eight years and a day after Julie Pucci filed suit against 19th District Court Chief Judge Mark Somers, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued an opinion affirming a judgment in her favor.

“I had all these emotions. I felt complete vindication. It was a great feeling,” Pucci, a former deputy administrator for the Dearborn-based court said, discussing the 27-page opinion. 

Pucci filed suit in 2007 and was awarded a $1.2 million judgment in the case. Disputes over who is responsible for the payment — the city or Somers himself — are dragging out the case.

“I haven’t been paid yet,” she said. 

According to the court’s opinion, Somers fired Pucci after she complained to a state administrative agency about his use of religion on the bench. 

Pucci said Somers was expressing his religious views in the course of performing his job as a judge. She saw a letter Somers had written containing a biblical passage in the letterhead.  She contacted the State Court Administrative Office (SCAO), the agency that oversees the conduct of the state’s judiciary and reported the incident.  

“He would tell people he is a Christian man and asked people whether they went to church,” Pucci said. “He treated people differently because he didn’t like their lifestyle. You can’t do that.” 

When Somers was promoted to chief judge, he fired Pucci for complaining to the SCAO, the court’s opinion states. 

Somers did not return messages left by The Arab American News. 

In an interview last year, Somers discussed Pucci’s romantic relationship with Judge William Hultgren that began in 2001. Hultgren is still a judge at the court. 

“Until this issue is cleared up there is going to be a big cloud over the court,” Hultgren said. 

Somers had argued that Hultgren’s relationship with the court employee violated anti-nepotism policies. 

Months after Somers began his post as chief judge, he decided to eliminate the deputy court administrator. He said this was to cut costs at the court and the reason why Pucci was terminated. 

Pucci said that when she worked at the courthouse there were two court administrative positions; and that somebody was hired right after her with a higher salary and more benefits. 

“There were two administrative positions and when I left there was still two,” she said. 

The city said Somers acted in his individual capacity when he fired Pucci, but Joel Sklar, Pucci’s attorney, said Somers acted in his professional capacity when he fired his client. 

Somers was chief judge of the 19th District Court when he fired Pucci. She said he fired her in his professional capacity, because regular judges do not have the authority to terminate employees. 

“He could only do that in his capacity as chief judge,” Pucci said. “He had the authority to fire me. A regular judge doesn’t.”

Both Pucci and her attorney noted that the court has an indemnification policy that protects judges from such lawsuits. 

“The indemnification policy was adopted by the 19th District Court,” Sklar said. 

Pucci said that in a court deposition Chief Judge Sam Salamey said, “If a judge violates an employee’s right in a professional capacity, the court must pay.” 

“I would like her to get paid immediately,” Sklar said. “The court has a policy…That is what the policy is there for.” 

Sklar noted that the city is the funding unit for the court, even though the judges are employees of the state. 

“He works for the state, not the city of Dearborn,” Dearborn Mayor Jack O’Reilly said. “Under the law he is an employee of the state of Michigan.” 

O’Reilly said the state is responsible for reviewing and monitoring Somers. 

“We have appealed to a higher level…when you act as a individual then you’re responsible for any penalties that are awarded,” O’Reilly said. “We don’t regulate him at all. We are justified in appealing it.” 

Last year Somers was reelected to a six-year term on the court by 85 votes.

Somers is no longer a chief judge and Pucci doubts he ever will be again. 

“I don’t think the state would ever make that mistake again,” she said. “I think everyone learned their lesson.” 

On Thursday, the city was expected to ask for more than $30,000 to continue to fight against paying Pucci’s judgment during the city council’s Committee of the Whole meeting, according to Hultgren. 

When Pucci spoke with The Arab American News on Tuesday, she said the city had already paid the law firm of Miller Canfield $75,000 post judgment to fight being responsible for the $1.2 million payment. 

Pucci noted the other costs associated with the case that the city has had to cover including a sanction fee of more than $7,000, attorney, transcript, witness and filing fees. 

“They paid the sanction fee for not acting,” she said. 

The city has also had to pay about $500,000 for other lawsuits that court employees filed involving Somers. 

In 2012 the city reached a settlement agreement with 19th District Court Administrator Sharon Langen.  Langen was awarded a $150,000 cash payment. She filed suit on civil and due process grounds, alleging that when Somers was chief judge he demoted her and hired a man to replace her. 

Simone Calvas, another former court employee, sued Somers, alleging her civil rights were violated after he fired her in the fall of 2007. 

Calvas filed the lawsuit in 2009, saying she faced work harassment in 2007 after she announced she was pregnant by her boyfriend. According to Pucci, Calvas was awarded more about $344,000. 

She said those cases were not that much different than hers, and that the city should pay for her judgment the same way it covered the costs of the other two cases.  “They paid everything else. They can’t pick and choose,” she said. 

According to Pucci, the city had an opportunity to settle the case against Somers in the past.  She said that at one point the city council could have settled it for $116,000, but did not. 

“They had the chance to settle for about one tenth of the $1.2 million, which would have been $116,000. The city council rejected the settlement.” 

Pucci said in another instance she turned to Somers and asked for six months of severance before even filing the lawsuit. 

“I was going to release claims,” she said. “I did it twice. I asked for $34,000 the first time.”

She says she asked for $55,000 worth of severance the second time. 

“I had 16 years on the job and I wasn’t going to just walk away,” Pucci said.  

Pucci said she hopes she will begin getting the money for her judgment as soon as possible and that disputes about it are handled after. 

“Why victimize me even further?” she asked. “Handle this afterwards.”