ANGELA SHAFT V JACKSON NATIONAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY (Dissenting Opinion)
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STATE OF MICHIGAN COURT OF APPEALS ANGELA SHAFT, UNPUBLISHED September 18, 2014 Plaintiff-Appellee, v No. 315030 Ingham Circuit Court LC No. 12-000070-CL JACKSON NATIONAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, Defendant-Appellant. Before: FITZGERALD, P.J., and SAAD and WHITBECK, JJ. FITZGERALD P.J., (dissenting). I respectfully dissent from the majority s decision to reverse and remand for entry of an order of dismissal. The circuit court denied defendant s motion for summary disposition in light of the fact that plaintiff presented evidence that (1) defendant discharged plaintiff only after making repeated references to her black coworker s race, and (2) defendant emphasized that the races of the parties involved (a white employee sending the document to a black coworker) made plaintiff s action a fireable offense. Viewed in a light most favorable to plaintiff as the nonmoving party, the trial court found that this evidence constituted direct evidence of racial discrimination under MCL 37.2202(1)(a) and could lead a reasonable jury to conclude that race was a motivating factor in defendant s decision to terminate plaintiff. Upon de novo review, I agree. I would affirm the trial court s denial of defendant s motion for summary disposition and allow the case to be presented to a jury. /s/ E. Thomas Fitzgerald -1-
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