The Michigan Supreme Court has refused to hear a case filed by a business group that wants the state to compensate its members for losses due to state-ordered COVID-19 restrictions early in the pandemic.

The Supreme Court’s refusal to hear the case leaves in place a lower court decision that the Macomb County Restaurant, Bar and Banquet Association, unlike its members, was not directly affected by COVID orders and, therefore, does not have standing to sue.

The order from the Michigan Supreme Court was unsigned, but Republican-nominated Justice David Viviano wrote a dissent. He said the question of “associational standing” in the case is worth considering. He also wrote a decision from the court could provide guidance on the limits of state powers in future health emergencies.

Viviano wrote there could be some situations where an association can represent members’ interests without requiring individual businesses to file lawsuits.

“Plaintiff has made a persuasive argument that its interest as an association is sufficient for that purpose,” he wrote. “This is a jurisprudentially significant issue that I believe warrants our careful consideration.”

It is more typical for individual plaintiffs to file lawsuits while organizations representing specific interests can file “amicus” briefs with a court.

Sam Backos is a restaurant owner and a board member of the Macomb County Restaurant, Bar and Banquet Association. He told the Michigan Public Radio Network that a legal technicality should not keep the case from being heard.

“We look at it as, what’s the difference?” he said. “We’re filing a collective argument here to seek some relief. Nobody is discussing the merits of our case. They’re saying, no, you don’t have standing, which we disagree with.”

The Supreme Court order effectively upholds a Michigan Court of Appeals decision from October of 2022, which held a lower court “correctly concluded that plaintiff was not the real party in interest and was not the proper party to bring monetary claims on behalf of its members. Plaintiff made no assertion that the executive orders restricting the food-service industry affected the legal rights of plaintiff itself. That is, it failed to identify any actual controversy between itself and defendants.”

Backos said the Michigan Supreme Court order may have wrapped up the case in state courts, but is not the final word. He said his organization plans to take the case next to the U.S. Supreme and will file early next year.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Michigan public school reading scores have been taking a hit. MichMash host, Cheyna Roth, and Gongwer News Service’s Zach Gorchow find out why with Peter Spadafore who’s with the Michigan Alliance for Student Opportunity. 

Subscribe to MichMash on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

In this episode:

• The latest Michigan public school reading scores and why they are are so low
• The lasting effects of the pandemic on students
• Policy interventions to help students improve their education

Results from this year’s Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress (M-STEP) were released this week, showing that 39.6% of third graders across Michigan passed the state’s English language arts (ELA) test, compared to 40.9% in 2023.

Spadafore, who serves as executive director for the Michigan Alliance for Student Opportunity, said the results were concerning but not surprising.  

“I think like every observer around Lansing and across the state, we were disappointed in the numbers, but also not entirely surprised to see the lingering impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Spadafore. “The state superintendent talks a lot about the impact of virtual instruction. When we were not able to be in classrooms having an impact on those early learners when we’re trying to get at them, soon and quickly to grasp those early reading skills.”

Lansing is hard at work to pass laws to remedy this issue. But Spadafore said they need to make sure they pass the correct laws to intervene with the reading levels.   

“It’s important that they move the bills when they’re right now. They’re overly prescriptive and change a whole lot of state law when really what we’re seeing is if we would have a better screening tool to identify students reading disabilities and characteristics of dyslexia, I think that’s when, we could be supportive of legislation.” 

Spadafore says it will take collaboration between educators, lawmakers, the union, parents and more to help reading levels improve.

More from WDET:

• Rep. James tries to drum support for federal education tax credit legislation
• Detroit Evening Report: Detroit Education Narrative Collective offering up to $5,000 in grants to craft education stories
• Detroit Evening Report: Gov. Whitmer launches new education-focused department MiLEAP

More from Gongwer News Service:

• M-STEP Scores Show Student Economic Advantage Gap Still Prevalent