Ottawa County commissioner files suit against MSU, says his 1st amendment rights were violated

Chris Kleinjans | Courtesy photo

An Ottawa County commissioner is speaking out after filing a lawsuit against Michigan State University alleging he was forced out of his job after being elected to public office.

Democrat Chris Kleinjans, 56, defeated Ottawa Impact Republican incumbent Lucy Ebel last month to represent the county commission’s 2nd District. 

Shortly afterward, he was informed by the Michigan State University Extension Office leadership that his new role as a commissioner was “incompatible” with his employment as a community nutrition instructor.

“It’s difficult to be removed from the people that I have spent over a decade working with,” Kleinjans said in a statement released June 24. “Through the programs I created, managed or taught, I had the honor of helping improve lives, policies and systems and I had hoped to continue in that role until I retired.”

Kleinjans filed a lawsuit Friday in the Western District of the U.S. District Court claiming MSU Extension violated his First Amendment Rights after giving him an ultimatum: take an unpaid leave through the remainder of the year or face termination.

Jessica Nakfour, director of human resources for MSU Extension, did not return a request for comment.

Kleinjans’ attorney, Sarah Riley-Howard, said Extension leadership forced him out, bowing to political pressure from Ottawa Impact, which threatened to not renew the Extension’s contract with the county in December if Kleinjans was allowed to continue to work there.

On May 7, Kleinjans won his seat after a 10-month recall process against Ebel, a member of Ottawa Impact, a far-right fundamentalist group formed in 2021 over frustrations with the county and state over COVID-19 mitigation measures.

Since taking office in January, Ebel and other OI-linked commissioners pushed through a series of controversial decisions, resulting in several lawsuits against the county. 

Two weeks after winning the seat, Kleinjans was informed that his employment would no longer be viable.

“The university’s legal counsel and administrative human resources determined that holding both positions simultaneously is incompatible,” according to an email from MSU Extension District 7 Director Scott Korpak on May 23. “If Mr. Kleinhans is re-elected in the November 2024 election, it is the university’s understanding that he will resign. If not, the university would move to terminate his employment with MSU Extension.”

Howard said the university is in the wrong.

“[MSU’s] actual reason for the decision to place (Kleinjans) on unpaid leave and ultimately to fire him from his job is that they have bowed, and are bowing, to political pressure from the (Ottawa Impact) majority on the Ottawa County Commission,” Howard wrote in the filing. “The OI majority placed political pressure on (MSU) to retaliate against (Kleinjans) for running against and winning a recall election to unseat their political ally, Lucy Ebel. (MSU) do not have a non-discriminatory reason to fire (Kleinjans) and have merely capitulated to the OI majority.”

Kleinjans said the loss of his job has deeply affected his family’s financial stability.

“Sarah [his wife] and I have lost the ability to continue in the retirement program I’ve been participating in since my first week at Extension, as well as the retiree health program that would have helped minimize the fiscal anxiety associated with retirement and aging,” Kleinjans said in the statement. “Treatment and stabilization for long-term conditions, like Sarah’s macular degeneration, have now become more difficult conversations to have. In choosing this path, MSUE has not only fundamentally altered our lives at present, but every day of our lives moving forward.”

In Friday’s filing, Howard said Commissioners Allison Miedema and Joe Moss, who currently chairs the board and is the president of Ottawa Impact, “applied pressure to [MSU] to fire or move [Kleinjan’s] employment, and otherwise negatively impact [Kleinjan’s] working conditions and livelihood, in an effort to deter a viable candidate from running against Ebel.”

Howard said Kleinjans became a target after helping Ottawa Food — a collaboration of over 45 local agencies and individuals that exists to ensure all Ottawa County residents have access to healthy, local and affordable food choices — issue a news release announcing it was suspending operations after the board made deep cuts to the county’s public health department.

“During budget negotiations, it was brought up repeatedly that the Board of Commissioners didn’t want to see Ottawa Food operations reduced or eliminated. However, they also knew that by reducing the Health Education budget, this was a highly probable outcome,” according to a media release from the advisory board dated Nov. 13. 

“Prior to the final budget vote on Sept. 26, listening sessions were held with Ottawa Food members to determine possible paths forward. Following the cuts made in late September, 76% of Ottawa Food members voted to pause the model of Ottawa Food as it’s been operating, rather than continue without a full-time coordinator.”

Kleinjans, then a member of the Ottawa Food Advisory Board, was listed as the media contact on that news release.

“The OI majority also hoped to punish and retaliate against (Kleinjans) for his political opposition to the OI majority’s budget cuts that led to the elimination of the Ottawa Food coordinator, and the OI majority applied pressure to (MSU) to punish (Kleinjans) for this reason as well,” Howard wrote in the lawsuit.

The lawsuit asks that Kleinjans be returned to his position and awarded back wages, as well as punitive damages and attorneys’ fees.

Kleinjans said he’s troubled that this scenario potentially could have affected any MSU Extension employee.

“Looking beyond my own circumstances, this situation seems to indicate that any employee of MSUE, no matter how valuable, knowledgeable or experienced, will be removed without hesitation or recourse if they are perceived as a threat to the funding provided to MSUE by local governments,” he said in the statement. “That makes clear where Extension’s loyalties lie, and it’s not with the programming and education field staff, who are the true strength and face of the organization.”

Regardless of the lawsuit’s outcome, Kleinjans said he will continue to represent his district. He is running for reelection in the fall, where he could face Ebel again. But first, she has a primary against non-OI Republican Jordan Jorritsma on Aug. 6.

“As we negotiate our new future, Sarah and I do want to be very clear that my efforts to bring transparent, ethical government that is supportive of all the citizens of Ottawa County will not be swayed by this life-altering event,” Kleinjans said in the statement. “Having come this far, I assure you nothing will deter me from doing the hard work my District 2 constituents chose me to do on May 7. I am committed, and I will continue to work toward mending the recent divisiveness, distraction and delay so we can move forward together.”

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