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STATE OF MICHIGAN COURT OF APPEALS

JOHN MOODY, DONALD HARMON, RICHARD RAY, DONALD CURRIER, JR., and WALLY MCILMURRAY, JR., Plaintiffs-Appellants, v MICHIGAN GAMING CONTROL BOARD and GARY M. POST, Defendants-Appellees.

UNPUBLISHED July 21, 2011

No. 298697 Wayne Circuit Court LC No. 10-005984-AA

Before: BORRELLO, P.J., and METER and SHAPIRO, JJ. PER CURIAM. Plaintiffs appeal as of right from a circuit court order denying their request for injunctive relief to enjoin defendants from enforcing orders that suspended plaintiffs' occupational licenses to participate in horseracing after plaintiffs invoked their Fifth Amendment privilege against selfincrimination at an administrative hearing. For the reasons set forth in this opinion, we affirm. This case arises from plaintiffs having their racing licenses suspended. On May 20, 2010, plaintiffs appeared at an informal administrative hearing at the Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) office. The purpose of the hearing was to investigate allegations of race-fixing. The MGCB had summoned plaintiffs' bank records; plaintiffs failed to produce them. While plaintiffs were under oath, they invoked their Fifth Amendment privilege against selfincrimination to questions such as whether they had ever failed to put forth their "best effort" in a race and if they had taken money to alter the outcome of a race. The stewards suspended plaintiffs' occupational licenses from May 20, 2010, to December 31, 2010. The stewards explained that plaintiffs "failed to comply with the conditions precedent for occupational licensing in Michigan as outlined in R 431.1035," which essentially requires cooperation in an investigation, including responding to all questions pertaining to racing matters. On May 26, 2010, plaintiffs filed this action in circuit court. The complaint was styled as "PLAINTIFFS' COMPLAINT AND EMERGENCY MOTION FOR A TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER." It included two counts, which were both labeled "ISSUANCE OF A TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER." Plaintiffs alleged that their licenses were suspended for asserting their Fifth Amendment rights, which defendants treated as a failure to cooperate -1-

with an investigation. Plaintiffs asserted that pursuant to MCL 431.307,1 they were allowed to refuse to testify upon a showing of "just cause," which they claimed was met by their assertion of a constitutional right. They asserted that the suspension of their licenses was without a factual basis and that injunctive relief was necessary because of their inability to participate in upcoming races. Count II incorporates all of the allegations of Count I and adds, "Plaintiffs have been deprived of their due process

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Michigan Law