Fired in Washtenaw County? You need a trial-tested employment lawyer who knows Ann Arbor juries.
Most people who call me from Washtenaw County have three questions. Do I have a case? What does it cost to find out? How fast do I have to move?
Here are the honest answers. Michigan is an at-will state, and most firings are legal. What makes one unlawful is protected activity or a protected class, plus evidence. You asked for FMLA leave, requested an accommodation, announced a pregnancy, or reported harassment — then the write-ups started. That pattern is a case. A bad boss alone is not.
Finding out costs nothing. The 15-minute case evaluation is free, and I handle termination cases on contingency. As for speed: a Whistleblowers’ Protection Act claim must be filed within 90 days, an EEOC charge within 300. Call (313) 701-2448 before you sign a severance agreement, not after.
Why Washtenaw County employment cases are their own thing
Washtenaw County has about 370,000 people and one employer that towers over the rest. The University of Michigan, including Michigan Medicine, employs more than 37,000 people — several times the next-largest employer in the county. Trinity Health Michigan (Trinity Health Ann Arbor, formerly St. Joseph Mercy, plus Chelsea Hospital) and the Trinity-affiliated physician group IHA add roughly 7,000 more. The VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System, Ann Arbor Public Schools, Washtenaw County government, and Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti are each in the 1,300-to-2,700 range.
Then there is the private-sector layer: Toyota Motor North America R&D in Ann Arbor and York Township, Forvia (formerly Faurecia) Interior Systems in Saline, Domino’s Pizza headquarters in Ann Arbor Township, Ford’s Rawsonville Components Plant in Ypsilanti Township, the American Center for Mobility at Willow Run, and the downtown tech cluster around Duo Security/Cisco and Google. Zingerman’s and Chelsea Milling (“Jiffy” mix) round it out.
Three things follow from that map.
First, an unusual share of Washtenaw workers are public employees — the university, the county, the school districts, the city of Ann Arbor, EMU — with Whistleblowers’ Protection Act and First Amendment retaliation angles their private-sector neighbors often don’t have.
Second, the workforce is highly educated and heavily white-collar. Engineers, physicians, research staff, and corporate employees keep records. Those are the cases I want, because retaliation cases are won on paper.
Third, the big institutions here defend hard. U-M cases run through the university’s own general counsel’s office; Trinity Health, Toyota, and Domino’s keep employment-defense firms on retainer. Your lawyer needs to have taken cases like that to a jury. I have, more than 50 times.
Where Washtenaw County employment cases get filed
State-law claims under ELCRA, the PWDCRA, and the WPA are filed in the Washtenaw County Trial Court, the 22nd Circuit, at 101 E. Huron St. in downtown Ann Arbor. Civil cases over twenty-five thousand dollars go to the General Trial Division.
Federal claims — Title VII, the ADA, the ADEA, the FMLA, and the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act — go to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, which sits primarily at the Theodore Levin U.S. Courthouse in Detroit and also at the federal building at 200 E. Liberty St. in Ann Arbor.
The choice between them is a real decision. ELCRA (MCL 37.2101) carries a three-year statute of limitations and no cap on emotional-distress damages. Title VII caps damages by employer size and requires an EEOC charge first. Federal judges dismiss more cases on paper at summary judgment. When I file only state claims in the 22nd Circuit, the employer generally cannot remove the case to federal court, and that is often the point.
About that jury pool: Washtenaw juries are among the most educated in Michigan. They read the exhibits and follow a timeline, and they are generally receptive to a civil-rights framing of what happened to you. Defense counsel know this, and it shows up in what they offer at mediation.
Cities we serve in Washtenaw County
| City | Notes / major employers | Page |
|---|---|---|
| Ann Arbor | University of Michigan and Michigan Medicine, VA Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor Public Schools, city and county government, downtown tech | Ann Arbor employment lawyer |
| Ypsilanti | Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti Community Schools | — |
| Ypsilanti Township | Ford Rawsonville Components Plant, American Center for Mobility at Willow Run, Trinity Health facilities | — |
| Pittsfield Township | State Street and Ann Arbor-Saline Road retail and office corridors | — |
| Saline | Forvia (Faurecia) Interior Systems, Toyota R&D at the York Township line, Saline Area Schools | — |
| Chelsea | Chelsea Hospital (Trinity Health), Chelsea Milling (“Jiffy” mix) | — |
| Dexter | Small manufacturing, schools, Ann Arbor commuters | — |
| Milan | Manufacturing and schools; straddles the Monroe County line | — |
| Scio Township | Jackson Road commercial corridor, west-side Ann Arbor commuters | — |
| Superior Township | Residential; Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti commuters | — |
| Ann Arbor Township | Domino’s Pizza headquarters, Washtenaw Community College | — |
| York Township | Toyota Motor North America R&D campus | — |
| Manchester | Small-town manufacturing and schools | — |
| Whitmore Lake | Northfield Township; commuters to Ann Arbor and Brighton | — |
Ann Arbor has its own page; the rest of the county is covered here. Working in Wayne, Oakland, or Macomb County instead? See the Wayne County, Oakland County, and Macomb County pages.
What we handle for Washtenaw County workers
You announced a pregnancy, and things changed
Nurses and residents at Michigan Medicine and Trinity Health, research staff on grant timelines, corporate employees at Domino’s — the pattern is the same. The schedule gets worse, the review gets harsher, or the position is “eliminated” while you’re out. The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (2023) requires reasonable accommodation of pregnancy; ELCRA has covered it for decades. See pregnancy discrimination in Michigan and demoted after pregnancy.
You took FMLA leave, or asked for it, and were fired
FMLA cases cluster in shift-based work: hospital units, the Rawsonville plant, EMU and school-district support staff. The tell is timing — you requested leave or returned from it, and the discipline started within weeks. See FMLA retaliation in Michigan, fired after asking for FMLA leave, and evidence for FMLA retaliation.
You asked for an accommodation and were punished for asking
An engineer at Toyota R&D asks for a modified schedule after a diagnosis. A clinical assistant asks for a lifting restriction. A developer downtown asks to keep working remotely. The request is protected under the ADA and Michigan’s PWDCRA (MCL 37.1101); firing someone instead of engaging is a case. See ADA accommodation and retaliation and accommodation denied, now fired.
You were harassed, or you reported it
University labs run on hierarchy: principal investigator, postdoc, graduate student, technician. So do hospital departments and restaurant kitchens. That hierarchy is where sexual harassment lives, and where reporting it gets you labeled a problem. Title VII and ELCRA prohibit both. See sexual harassment in Michigan and reporting sexual harassment in Michigan.
You complained about discrimination, and then you were fired
A complaint to HR about race, sex, national origin, or religion is protected activity under ELCRA and Title VII, even if HR decides the complaint was unfounded. The firing that follows is the retaliation claim. See race discrimination and retaliation, gender discrimination and retaliation, and fired after an HR complaint.
A “restructuring” that only hit older workers
Corporate reorganizations, tech layoffs, engineering headcount cuts — when everyone let go is over 50 and everyone kept is under 40, that’s a pattern. See age discrimination in Michigan and RIF or age discrimination.
You reported wrongdoing to a government agency
Michigan’s Whistleblowers’ Protection Act (MCL 15.361) is narrower than most people assume. It protects reports to a public body, and the deadline to sue is 90 days. A complaint only to HR at a private employer is probably not a WPA claim — though it may be retaliation under ELCRA or Title VII if it was about discrimination or harassment. See whistleblower retaliation in Michigan.
All of these sit under the umbrella of wrongful termination in Michigan. The umbrella term is fine for searching; the specific hook is what wins.
University, hospital, and public employees: research, patient safety, and the WPA
The University of Michigan and Michigan Medicine employ a large share of this county’s working adults, and that changes the legal analysis in a few ways. Much of it applies equally to Washtenaw County government, Ann Arbor Public Schools, EMU, and city of Ann Arbor employees.
The university is a public body. When a U-M employee reports research misconduct, grant-fund misuse, or a patient-safety problem, whether that report reached a “public body” under the WPA is a harder question than it is for a private employee. A report up the chain inside a public university may qualify. The analysis is fact-specific, and the 90-day clock does not wait.
Academic and clinical staff also face contract questions a factory worker doesn’t. A non-renewal is not a termination. Tenure-track faculty have one set of rules, lecturers another, research scientists a third, residents a fourth. Many are also in unions, and the grievance process does not replace a lawsuit — a grievance enforces the contract, while ELCRA and the federal statutes create separate rights you keep regardless.
Trinity Health and IHA are private employers, so the WPA analysis is more conventional: a patient-safety report to the state, to CMS, or to The Joint Commission is protected; a complaint only to your unit manager generally is not.
One honest note for VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System employees: you are federal employees, and your discrimination and retaliation claims run through the federal-sector EEO process and the Merit Systems Protection Board on much shorter deadlines than the ones on this page. If that’s you, say so when you call so we can quickly sort out whether I’m the right fit.
Engineers, corporate staff, and tech workers: documentation, severance, and non-competes
The second characteristic Washtenaw case is the salaried professional at Toyota R&D, Forvia, Domino’s corporate, or a downtown software company. These cases come in well-documented. Reviews are written. Managers communicate in email and Slack. The protected request is usually in writing, and so is the change in tone afterward.
They also come in with a severance agreement attached. The agreement almost always releases every employment claim you have, and the release is worth more to the company than the money is to you. If you are 40 or older, federal law gives you 21 days to consider it (45 in a group layoff) and seven days to revoke after signing. Use the time. See Michigan severance agreements explained.
Non-competes are the third piece. Engineers and tech workers here change jobs often, and a cease-and-desist letter often follows. Michigan enforces non-competes only to the extent they are reasonable in duration, geography, and scope, and a two-year nationwide restriction on a mid-level engineer usually isn’t. See non-compete defense.
What to do in the first 72 hours after you’re fired in Washtenaw County
- Preserve your documents tonight. U-M, Michigan Medicine, and most large employers cut system access within hours. Forward the emails, texts, calendar invites, reviews, and HR communications that matter to a personal account before that happens. Do not take patient data, research data, or trade secrets — take the record of what happened to you.
- Write the timeline while it’s fresh. Hire date. The date of the protected act. The date the treatment changed. The date you were fired. Who said what, and who was in the room.
- Request your personnel file in writing. Michigan’s Bullard-Plawecki Employee Right to Know Act requires your employer to give you access on written request. Email it so there’s a timestamp.
- Don’t sign the severance agreement yet. It releases your claims; let a lawyer read it first.
- File for unemployment. Being fired does not disqualify you; proven misconduct does.
- Then call (313) 701-2448. The evaluation is free and takes 15 minutes.
Washtenaw County employment law questions
Is Michigan an at-will state? Can I still sue if I was fired in Washtenaw County?
Yes and yes. At-will means an employer can fire you for a bad reason or no reason. It cannot fire you for a prohibited reason: your race, sex, age, disability, pregnancy, or religion, or because you took FMLA leave, requested an accommodation, reported harassment, or reported wrongdoing to a government agency. The firing has to connect to one of those.
How long do I have to file a wrongful termination claim in Michigan?
It depends on the claim. Whistleblowers’ Protection Act: 90 days. EEOC charge for Title VII, ADA, or ADEA: 300 days in Michigan. FMLA: two years, three if willful. ELCRA and PWDCRA: three years. Federal employees at the VA have 45 days to contact an EEO counselor. Call before you assume you have time.
What does it cost to hire an employment lawyer in Ann Arbor or Washtenaw County?
The 15-minute case evaluation is free. Termination cases are handled on a contingency fee: no hourly bills and no fee unless the case produces a recovery. Non-compete defense and severance review are sometimes handled differently, and I’ll tell you the arrangement before any work starts.
I work for the University of Michigan. Is my employment case different?
In some ways, yes. U-M is a public body, which opens Whistleblowers’ Protection Act and First Amendment retaliation angles private-sector employees usually don’t have. Faculty, lecturers, residents, and research staff are governed by different contracts, and non-renewal is treated differently from termination. The core statutes — ELCRA, Title VII, the ADA, the FMLA — still apply.
Do I have to file with the EEOC before suing in Washtenaw County?
Only for federal claims. Title VII, the ADA, and the ADEA require an EEOC charge within 300 days before you can sue. Michigan’s ELCRA and PWDCRA do not — you can file directly in the Washtenaw County Trial Court within three years. The FMLA has no charge requirement either. Which route makes sense depends on the facts and the deadlines you have left.
My employer says I was fired for performance. Does that end it?
No. Nearly every retaliation case involves an employer that says the firing was about performance. The question is whether that reason is the real one. Timing, a sudden drop in reviews after the protected act, inconsistent explanations, and coworkers who did the same thing and kept their jobs are how you show pretext. Washtenaw juries are good at spotting a reason written after the decision.
Washtenaw County pages for the cases I take most
Each page covers the employers, the courthouse, and the deadlines for that claim in Washtenaw County.
Pregnancy discrimination in Washtenaw County
Fired, demoted, denied light duty, or “reorganized” out after announcing a pregnancy.
FMLA retaliation in Washtenaw County
Discipline, a lost position, or a firing that follows protected medical leave.
Disability discrimination (ADA & PWDCRA) in Washtenaw County
A denied accommodation, a “no restrictions” policy, or a firing after you asked for help.
Sexual harassment in Washtenaw County
Harassment at work, and what happens after you report it.
Talk to a Washtenaw County employment lawyer
If you were fired in Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, Saline, Chelsea, or anywhere else in Washtenaw County, and it followed something you were legally entitled to do, call (313) 701-2448 or schedule a free case evaluation. Fifteen minutes, no charge, and a straight answer about whether you have a case.
Warren Astbury. Harvard Law School, J.D. 2009. More than 50 cases tried to verdict over 15 years. Employee-side only — I have never represented an employer. Hours are Monday through Friday, 9 to 5. Read more about the practice, review case results, or check the Michigan employment claim deadlines page.