Cox fires Andrew Shirvell, Says he used State Resources in Attack on Gay Student

The Detroit Free Press

Behavior wasn't appropriate, former assistant attorney general is told

Andrew Shirvell, the assistant attorney general under fire for his attacks on a University of Michigan student, has been fired.

Shirvell had been criticized for his blog in which he calls Chris Armstrong, the president of the Michigan Student Assembly, a radical homosexual, a Nazi and Satan’s representative on the assembly. Philip Thomas, Shirvell's attorney, had said his client is expressing his free-speech rights.

The firing was confirmed in a statement this afternoon from AG Mike Cox, who said Shirvell was fired for conduct unbecoming a state employee, especially that of an assistant attorney general.

“To be clear, I refuse to fire anyone for exercising their First Amendment rights, regardless of how popular or unpopular their positions might be. However, Shirvell repeatedly violated office policies, engaged in borderline stalking behavior, and inappropriately used state resources, our investigation showed.”

Among the examples cited by Cox in the statement:

• Showed up at the home of a private citizen three times, including once at 1:30 a.m. That incident is especially telling because it clearly was about harassing Mr. Armstrong, not engaging in free speech.

• Further engaged in behavior that, while not perhaps sufficient to charge criminal stalking, was harassing, uninvited and showed a pattern that was in the everyday sense, stalking.

• Harassing Armstrong's friends as they were socializing in Ann Arbor;

• Numerous calls to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office, Armstrong's employer, in an attempt to slander Armstrong — and ultimately attempting to cause Pelosi to fire Armstrong;

• Attempting to "out" Armstrong's friends as homosexual — several of whom were not gay.

Cox said Shirvell engaged in his campaign against Shirvell on company time and posted attacks on Armstrong on the Internet while at work.

“Finally, Shirvell lied to investigating assistant attorneys general on several occasions during his disciplinary hearing.”

A hearing that was supposed to be held Tuesday was moved up to this afternoon. Thomas, Shirvell's attorney, said he showed up for the meeting and was read one sentence.

“They said essentially that as a result of Andrew’s conduct, it’s become impossible for him to carry out his duties as an attorney general.”

Thomas said the attorney general’s office left a message on his office voice mail Saturday morning, telling him the hearing had been moved to this afternoon. He didn’t get the message until this morning.

Thomas said he is shocked and confused, saying he doesn’t know what could have happened between Friday afternoon, when the hearing began, and Saturday afternoon.

“This smells political to me,” Thomas said.

He said Shirvell has received excellent performance reviews from his bosses, and that his employers knew of Shirvell’s off-work activities.

“There’s been a tremendous piling on against Andrew. The liberal media started this tempest in a teapot.”

“Andrew’s reaction is that he’s devastated over the loss of his employment,” Thomas said.

Armstrong’s attorney, Deborah Gordon, issued a statement this afternoon in which she said the AG’s office made the correct decision. Gordon and Armstrong have filed complaints with the Michigan Grievance Commission, asking it to investigate Shirvell and possibly disbar him.

“The next step must be a complete retraction of all the malicious lies and fabrications by Mr. Shirvell, and a public apology to Chris Armstrong, his family and the others Mr. Shirvell has slandered.”

Gordon went on to say it’s time for Shirvell to realize there are consequences to his “reckless, outrageous statements and actions and that he is solely responsible for those consequences.”

Other actions

Until now, Shirvell has won battles. Armstrong dropped a request for a personal protection order in Washtenaw court. The Washtenaw County Prosecutor’s office declined to file a stalking charge against Shirvell, saying that while Shirvell’s comments “are offensive and mean spirited,” they don’t meet the definition of harassment under Michigan’s stalking statute.

The University of Michigan also essentially lifted Shirvell’s ban from campus, allowing Shirvell on campus but requiring him to stay away from Armstrong.

State Attorney General Sues Blue Cross, Regulator over Rates

Detroit Free Press

The Michigan attorney general’s office has sued Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and a state regulator over rate changes for some customers who buy insurance coverage to supplement Medicare.

The lawsuit filed today in Ingham County Circuit Court says the Office of Financial and Insurance Regulation should have held a public hearing. Attorney General Mike Cox calls the changes “illegally raising rates.”

Blue Cross and the regulator say the rate changes stem from elimination of a discount on so-called Medigap policies for people who don’t live in Michigan or do get help from employers in buying coverage.

The commissioner of the regulating office in June ordered an end to the discounts. Blue Cross says it’s complying with the order.

Medigap Info Could Overwhelm

Blue Cross denies hiding its money-losing policy
Detroit Free Press

John and Rita Cox had to find another Medicare policy this fall after Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan eliminated their plan.

They wanted a Blue Cross Medigap plan for $112.12 a month each, just like Rita's cousin has. An independent insurance agent at the insurer's Southfield lobby gave them an application in October.

But back home, Cox, 81, a retired salaried Ford Motor Co. construction engineer, and his wife, 77, realized the policy the agent suggested was for Blue Care Network, a subsidiary of the insurer, a plan that would cost $203.33 a month for her and $254.49 for him.

Confused, they called their son, Mike, who happens to be Michigan's attorney general.

Mike Cox successfully fought to hold down a recent rate increase in Blue Cross Medigap policies. He has also accused the insurer several times in the past year of failing to adequately promote the money-losing Medigap policies.

Blue Cross spokesman Andy Hetzel said the insurer loses $1,000 on every Medigap policy.

Cox advised his parents to get the exact name of the policy from the cousin, then go back to the Southfield office and request an application. "And don't take no for an answer," Rita said her son told her.

They went back and left with an application for Legacy Medigap, the new name Blue Cross has given its Medigap policy. They also bought a separate Part D plan to pay for prescription drugs, as most seniors do because Medigap policies don't have drug coverage.

"They are hiding it," Rita Cox said of Blue Cross. "The ones being hurt are seniors."

The Coxes' experience underscores problems seniors have in trying to find out about Blue Cross Medigap policies.

Blue Cross denies it has hidden its Medigap policy or steered customers to its subsidiary. Some 2,200 seniors enrolled in the Legacy plan in the last month alone, a sign that "clearly there isn't a widespread issue with regard to accessing the application, filling it out or getting enrolled," Hetzel said. The insurer has made improvements to more prominently list Legacy Blue applications and information on its Web site.

Hetzel attributed confusion to the dozens of Michigan Medicare plans sold. "The Coxes' family experience unfortunately is what a lot of families go through right now," he said.

Some of the confusion stems from a new Medigap policy, MyBlue, offered by Blue Care Network, a subsidiary of Blue Cross.

MyBlue policies cost more because administrators can charge higher rates based on a person's age, gender, health status, weight and county of residence.

Blue Cross can't charge higher rates because it is required by state law, as Michigan's nonprofit insurer of last resort, to offer one price for its Medigap policies.

Insurance brokers also get no commission to sell Legacy Blue plans as they do for a Blue Care Network policy. The commission typically is 20% of a plan's monthly premium.

As a result, some brokers don't tell seniors about the Blue Cross Medicare products, according to several local insurance brokers. The ones that do, like Barbara Plecas, an insurance broker in Walled Lake, tell seniors about Legacy Blue because "it's the right thing to do," Plecas said.

Louis Isabell, general manager of the Wixom-based Allchoice insurance firm, said some of his clients who requested Legacy Blue applications in October still had not gotten them, so they bought plans from other insurers.

Business Climate Focus Of Michigan Chaldean Conference

From Oakland Press

The Chaldean Chamber of Commerce has moved into new quarters on a busy stretch of Northwestern Highway as its steps up its activity in both the business world and the community.

Several hundred guests turned out for the Chaldean Chamber’s fourth annual Business Luncheon Thursday for discussion on “The Future of Michigan’s Economy,” featuring an influential panel that included Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox, Speaker of The House Andy Dillon, Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano and Dominos Pizza Chief Executive Officer David Brandon.

Cox, who also is pursuing the Republican nomination for governor, said he favored cutting the Michigan Business Tax in half, which would benefit small benefit business owners across the board. “I don’t believe government can pick winners or losers,” he said.

Brandon said Michigan needs to change its overall business climate to make it more attractive to businesses already based in Michigan.

Right now, the business climate makes it difficult to justify building a new plant in Michigan.

The current climate costs the average business in Michigan up to four points of profit, which can spell the difference between success and failure.

Ficano stressed that cooperation across traditional political boundaries is one of the keys to helping revive the regional economy.

Detroit Metropolitan Airport now has more than 4,000 employees, half of whom live in Wayne County.

Promoting Metro Airport as a logistics hub, as Wayne County is attempting to do, takes nothing away from surrounding communities but could create thousands of new jobs by making it an alternative destination to freight forwarders, which now use Chicago by default, Ficano said.

The airport could be a genuine engine for growth in the area just like airports in Europe and in places such as China and Dubai.

Dillon said a way has to be found to put the state on a sound financial footings. Business wants certainty but “for the last six years there has been no certainty” because of the recurring budget crisis in Lansing.

“We need more Chaldeans in this state,” said Dillon, who Michigan’s new economy will depend more than ever on entrepreneurs. “The Chaldean community has real entrepreneurial spirit,” he said.

Martin Manna, the Chaldean Chamber’s executive director, said the chamber now has close to 1,000 members and is very active in the community.

“We get all kinds of requests that don’t have anything to do with business, but have to do with the community,” Manna said.

Most of the community revolves around the fallout from the war in Iraq, which has forced thousands of Chaldeans, who are Catholic, not Muslim, out of their traditional homes and forced them into refugee camps in the Middle East.

The U.S. government is slowly letting refugees re-settle in the United States and more are expected.

So far, more than 20,000 Chaldeans have come to the Detroit area, he said.

“Usually, what happens is the government puts them somewhere else but there is a secondary migration to the Detroit area because that is where their relatives are and their support system is here,” Manna said.

AG Cox Urges Carmakers To File Bankruptcy In Michigan

Story from the Detroit Free Press

Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox has urged chief executives of General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC to consider filing for bankruptcy in Michigan rather than Delaware or New York because it would be more convenient for creditors in Michigan.

“I am gravely concerned about the impact of any bankruptcy filing in a jurisdiction outside Michigan,” Cox wrote in separate letters to GM CEO Fritz Henderson and Chrysler CEO Bob Nardelli.

Cox goes on to say that the financial health of both companies and Michigan have been intertwined for decades.

• PDF: Cox's letter to GM

• PDF: Cox's letter to Chrylser

The state is a significant creditor for each of the troubled automakers through the Michigan Business and Single Business Tax obligations, workers’ compensation claims, unemployment insurance and environmental regulations.

“The costs for many of these creditors (in Michigan) to participate in a New York or Delaware bankruptcy is overwhelming and would undoubtedly lead to unjust bills,” Cox said.

“It’s easier for those people to get in line, if it’s here,” said John Selek, a spokesman for the attorney general.

While Cox does not say that either company should file for bankruptcy, neither does he acknowledge that they might not need to if they meet certain criteria set by the U.S. Treasury Department.

“If you ultimately decide to choose bankruptcy as the vehicle to a stronger (company), I respectfully ask that you and your representatives meet with me before any filing is made,” the letter concludes. “Please feel free to contact me at any time, day or night, to discuss this matter.”