Watch CBS News

Former Michigan Reps. Courser, Gamrat Pursuing Lawsuit Over Lost Wages, Damage To Reputations

LANSING (WWJ) - Former state representatives Todd Courser and Cindy Gamrat are threatening to sue for damages and lost wages in connection to their removal from office last year.

The ex-lawmakers have filed a notice with a Michigan court saying they could sue the state, and others, to recoup more than $500,000 for loss of wages, emotional distress, loss of standing in the community and damage to their reputations. The state, several lawmakers, and former staff members are named in the paperwork.

"There was just a whole series of lies, just one after another," Courser said. "The complaint will be very detailed and it will explain end to end how this whole thing happened. ... I think there's just some ridiculous stuff out there and this lawsuit, I think, hopefully will correct it."

Courser and Gamrat were the focus of a sex scandal and cover-up last year that involved members of their respective staffs. Gamrat was expelled from office, while Courser resigned before lawmakers could vote on his fate.

Courser told WWJ Legal Analyst Charlie Langton he didn't get a fair shake.

"Well, I certainly shouldn't have been removed from office," he said. "Basically the idea is that under the Constitution, you can't commit an action that violates somebody's due process or equal protection. When they removed myself and Representative Gamrat, they did it without allowing us the opportunity to be able to one, call witnesses, to be able to question the witnesses that they called, we weren't allowed to submit evidence or to cross-examine the evidence they had."

Courser even alluded to a conspiracy behind his and Gamrat's removal from office.

"It's unfortunate because right after that, they passed one of the largest tax increases in recent memory," he said. "Representative Gamrat and I both fought really, really hard to keep the gas tax from being increased, they call it the highway road package, which was really just a cover to expand Medicaid. It was a boondoggle from the beginning, but they passed it by one vote after we were removed from office. So, the Speaker of the House used his agents, the staffers that were assigned to our offices, to gather and procure information. That information was used for political leverage."

Lawyers are still working out the details, but Courser feels more than justified asking for at least half-a-million dollars in damages.

"It's probably in excess of that [$500,000] now, in loss of reputation. They smeared my name," he said. "They said there was forgery on the tapes, now they're saying there was no forgery. They said there was misuse, the police found no misuse of state resources -- couldn't calculate any. So, all of those things go to destroying my reputation and the reputation of Representative Gamrat, which both of us were clearly the most conservative representatives in the legislature at the time."

Meantime, the former state lawmakers are now facing felony charges in connection with their scandalous love affair. Attorney General Bill Schuette said his decision comes after a review of emails, phones and computers following Courser's resignation and Gamrat's expulsion in the fall of 2015.

As for the criminal case against him, Courser called the allegations baseless.

"It's a malicious prosecution to try and justify this whole idea," he said. "I was moving on with my life. I was moving on. But, you know, then they bring these BS charges against myself and former Representative Gamrat, acting as though they have evidence when clearly when you listen to the stuff that now we have access to, these people were playing this whole thing from the beginning, and the intentions were to get me removed from office from the very first step."

Courser last year admitted to concocting a scheme to spread rumors that he had sex with male prostitutes to distract from, or to cover up, his real with affair with Gamrat. He's charged with four felonies: perjury for lying under oath and three counts of misconduct for allegedly lying and instructing people to send out false emails. Gamrat was charged with two counts of felony misconduct in office.

Courser is confident an investigation will show he and Gamrat are innocent.

"The Attorney General needed a distraction," said Courser. "You know, you've got dead bodies in Flint but that is not misconduct and that is not being investigated. That is being indemnified and protected at the very same moment they're bringing these accusations against her and I."

The bottom line: Courser said he just wants to clear his name.

Schuette has not yet commented on the legal notice.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.