SOUTHFIELD (WWJ/AP) - The Michigan appeals court has overturned key rulings and reinstated lawsuits against a popular personal-injury lawyer who is accused of sexually assaulting two women who worked at his Detroit-area firm.
Judges in Oakland and Wayne counties had said the claims against Mike Morse needed to be handled privately through an arbitration process. But the appeals court says an arbitration clause for employees at Morse's firm doesn't fit these cases.
Click here to read the appeals court opinion (.pdf format)
Morse is accused is grabbing the breasts of a paralegal and a receptionist in separate incidents. He denies the allegations.
The court says sending the complaints to arbitration "would effectively perpetuate a culture that silences victims of sexual assault and allows abusers to quietly settle these claims behind an arbitrator's closed door." Judges Kathleen Jensen and Jane Beckering were in the 2-1 majority. Judge Colleen O'Brien disagreed.
In her lawsuit, seeking $15 million, Samantha Lichon claims Morse, her boss, frequently made unwelcome and graphically sexual comments, groped her body and even invited her to his hotel room after she was hired in September of 2015 — all without encouragement. The lawsuit says she complained to her superiors and to human resources, but nothing was done. She was eventually fired in February 2017.
In the other lawsuit, which seeks $20 million in damages, Jordan Smits claims Morse approached her from behind and grabbed her breasts at a company Christmas party in 2015. The lawsuit says she complained to human resources and was told the "number one priority" was to protect Morse's reputation. The woman continued working for Morse until February 2016, when she said she emailed him and other associates telling them she felt uncomfortable because of the Christmas incident and was leaving her job.
In all, five women have accused Morse of inappropriate sexual touching in separate incidents. He has not been charged with any crime.
Last December, a judge dismissed a case by another woman who accused Morse of fondling her breast while taking a selfie at Lelli's on the Green restaurant in Farmington Hills in 2017. The judge said the woman, who was seeking $10 million in damages, had perjured herself on the stand.
Another woman dropped her lawsuit against Morse in June 2017 after a judge ordered that her name be made public; she wished to remain anonymous. She alleged that Morse assaulted her in December while in Florida, and was seeking $17.5 million in damages.
A suit that was seeking the most damages, $25 million, was filed by a woman who claimed Morse touched her while she was bartending the law firm's Christmas party in December 2016. It's unclear how that case turned out.
Morse has denied any wrongdoing, saying the allegations are fabricated, and that attorney Geoffrey Fieger -- who is representing the women -- is out to ruin his reputation. The two view each other as competitors.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
