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STATE OF MICHIGAN COURT OF APPEALS

BRUCE WHITMAN, Plaintiff-Appellee, v CITY OF BURTON and CHARLES SMILEY, Defendants-Appellants.

FOR PUBLICATION July 5, 2011 9:00 a.m. No. 294703 Genesee Circuit Court LC No. 08-087993-CL Advance Sheets Version

Before: O'CONNELL, P.J., and SAAD and BECKERING, JJ. SAAD, J. In this action under the Whistleblowers' Protection Act (WPA), MCL 15.361 et seq., a jury returned a verdict in favor of plaintiff. For the reasons set forth below, we reverse the trial court's denial of defendants' motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict (JNOV) and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. I. FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS Plaintiff sued defendants under the WPA after defendant city of Burton Mayor Charles Smiley declined to reappoint plaintiff as the police chief for the city of Burton in November 2007. Plaintiff's complaint alleged that defendants terminated his employment because, in January 2004, plaintiff complained to the mayor and a city attorney that it would be a violation of Burton City Ordinance 68-25C (Ordinance 68-C) if defendants failed to pay plaintiff for unused sick and personal leave time plaintiff accumulated in 2003. Ordinance 68-C,

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