The lawsuit filed by a group of EMU students, against Eastern Michigan University protesting the results of the 2014 Student Government Election, was dismissed without prejudice Aug 1.
In his ruling, Judge Donald E. Shelton wrote that the Washtenaw County Circuit Court did not have jurisdiction to preside over the case and the plaintiff’s attorney, Fatina Abdrabboh, did not provide any evidence to the contrary.
Abdrabboh could not be reached for comment.
It was the plaintiffs’ contention that write-in candidate Fatma Jaber was the actual winner of the 2014 Student Government Election, and not Desmond Miller.
Jaber declined to comment.
“It is important to note that at all times during this election we followed University and student governance bylaws and processes,” said Geoff Larcom, EMU’s executive director for media relations.
Abdrabboh did not show up to court to defend the student’s position in the case, which affected Shelton’s ruling.
“Plaintiffs having filed no response and Plaintiff’s counsel having failed to appear for hearing; and the Court having considered the pleadings and being otherwise fully advised…The remaining arguments raised in Defendant’s Motion are not addressed by this Court due to lack of jurisdiction and are therefore dismissed without prejudice,” Shelton wrote.
The students filing the lawsuit against the university were: Waleed Baker, Ahmed Abbas, Sabreen Dari, Tai Honrnsby, James Murray IV, Tasneem Gaballah and Ahmed Abuzoor. The plaintiffs did not comment on the results of case.
Shelton ruled that the lawsuit was filed in the wrong court, and transferred the case to the Court of Claims, contingent upon payment of EMU’s legal fees by the plaintiffs within 28 days of his ruling.
The total of legal fees and costs owed to EMU by the plaintiffs is $1,284.
At this time, The Echo is trying to determine if EMU will be pursuing the collection of the $1,284 in legal fees that was awarded by the court.