The fallout from the Courser/Gamrat affair has been extensive, nationally publicized and embarrassing. With criminal charges, allegations of misconduct, people losing their jobs on both sides of the fence and even several lawsuits, the ripples from this rock were huge. Now, the two former aides to former House Representatives Courser and Gamrat have settled their whistleblower lawsuit against the Michigan House.
Keith Allard and Ben Graham were the joint staffers for Todd Courser and Cindy Gamrat during the scandal that erupted about their affair. Both were fired in July of 2015 after attempting to expose Courser and Gamrat’s affair, and allegations about possible misconduct in office.
According to the lawsuit, Allard and Graham claim that they raised issues to House Speaker Kevin Cotter’s aides about “matters of public concern,” but were dismissed. Among the issues brought to Cotter’s attention were the affair and the fact that the staffers were required to send political emails while on the clock at work.
In the lawsuit, Allard and Graham accuse Cotter of covering up the affair and office misconduct, and only reporting it after the pair reported it to the press. They also allege that Cotter allowed them both to be fired without intervening. This, they claim, is a clear violation of their free speech and whistleblower rights under the law.
Allard and Graham say that Cotter, due to his party affiliation, only ordered an investigation into the Courser/Gamrat affair after the issue was made public. The affair was revealed after the fired aides released a copy of a secret recording to the Detroit Free Press in which Courser is urging Graham to send out an email making false claims.
The email in question is the one claiming that Courser was discovered having sex with a male prostitute behind a popular Lansing gay bar. It was later discovered that the scandal that Courser hope to start with the email was an attempt to beat a blackmailer at his own game.
By creating unbelievable and unlikely scandals about himself, Courser hoped to make his affair with Gamrat seem less likely, in the event that it became public. Apparently, the pair were being harassed by a blackmailer who had threatened to reveal their affair. It was later discovered during an investigation conducted by the Michigan State Police, that Gamrat’s husband was the one behind the extortion.
A deal was reached last week between the two former aides and the Michigan House of Representatives. Since then, the settlement has been confirmed by Gideon D’Assandro, spokesman for Cotter. Although we know that the lawsuit sought unspecified monetary damages, there are not currently any details available regarding the settlement amount. It will be interesting to learn how much this fiasco cost us taxpayers.