Judge rules against retired Clinton Township police captain

This version of the article corrects several inaccuracies from an earlier version

An appeal is expected to be filed after a Macomb County judge ruled against a Clinton Township police captain who claimed he was the target of age discrimination when he was forced out of the department earlier this year.

Macomb County Circuit Court Judge Richard L. Caretti earlier this month handed down the 10-page ruling, which dismissed retired Capt. Richard Maierle’s lawsuit against Clinton Township, township Supervisor Robert Cannon, and the township’s Fire and Police Retirement System Board of Trustees.

Maierle, who served the township for 41 years, said his employment was illegally terminated by township officials on his 65th birthday in May 2021. His lawsuit stated the township violated the Michigan Elliott Larsen Civil Rights Act.

But the judge’s ruling found the assertion lacked merit and dismissed it.

Caretti wrote the retirement board’s “reliance on the retirement language in (state law) suggests (Maierle’s) mandatory retirement is not a subterfuge for age discrimination. (Maierle) has not proffered any contrary evidence.”

At issue is a lawsuit filed by Maierle, who filed an age discrimination complaint June 1, alleging township officials conspired with the pension board to remove him from the police department. That was the date the Clinton Township Fire and Police Retirement System officially considered him retired

Sam Morgan, the attorney representing the police captain, said the dispute raises the question of what constitutes a “retirement” under the Michigan Fire Fighters and Police Officers’ Retirement Act.  The dispute is over the interpretation of the terms of the Retirement Act, with the township saying the Retirement Act mandates retirement at age 65.

Further complicating the issue, Maierle has a complaint pending before the Clinton Township Police and Fire Civil Service Commission as a result of his termination. The Civil Service Commission has to determine whether the Retirement Act makes retirement from service mandatory at age 65.

A ruling from the Civil Service Commission is expected in early December.

However, the commission only reviews a termination to determine whether there was just cause to justify the termination, Morgan said. The commission is not deciding whether its rules force retirement at age 65.

Maierle’s lawsuit asserted he could not be retired under the CBA because he was already retired due to his election to participate in the Retirement System’s Deferred Retirement Option Program (DROP) plan, which removes the mandate to leave the police department.

According to the lawsuit, the police department’s collective bargaining agreement with the captains union does not contain a provision requiring officers to terminate active employment they reach a certain age. But the issue has never been the subject of collective bargaining and is considered to be part of the retirement system.

In 2006, Maierle opted to participate in the DROP program upon reaching 55 years of age and 25 years of service. That’s when his retirement benefit was fixed and he ceased to be an active member of the system. He stayed in the DROP plan for the five-year maximum, after which he continued employment and began participating in a 401(a) defined contribution plan in 2011.

Judge Caretti found both the DROP plan and the 401(a) defined contribution plan are part of the retirement system, which Maierle had remained part of. The judge agreed with the township in finding Maierle’s mandatory retirement under the CBA resulted in his termination.

The defense attorney says Maierle forfeited his monthly pension benefit each month that he continued active employment after completing the DROP plan.

Morgan said he believes “the statute allowed an officer to retire in the pension system but also to choose to continue working and receiving their regular compensation, in which case they would delay the time when they started to receive their pension until they actually separated from employment.”

An officer can continue working and delaying the time to start receiving their pension until age 72, according to Morgan.

In his role as captain, Maierle oversaw the criminal investigations division and served as chief spokesperson for the police department. He is now working as a police officer in another jurisdiction, Morgan said.