County employee claims court manager retaliated after he took medical leave for 'long COVID'

OTTAWA COUNTY — An employee of Ottawa County’s Juvenile Court claims his managers and the county retaliated against him for taking medical leave after he developed health complications from COVID-19, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday.

“Defendants used targeted budget cuts, constructive demotion, the disciplinary process, and exclusion from prime office space in the Family Justice Center to retaliate against Plaintiff for his use of FMLA, his requests for minimal disability accommodations, and his reports of unlawful treatment,” the lawsuit claims, according to the Nov. 12 filing.

Plaintiff Andrew Hicks said he was hired as a treatment specialist with the court in 2021 and was quickly promoted to a treatment manager. That changed, however, after he contracted COVID-19 in December 2022, which then developed into "long COVID," a chronic condition that can occur after COVID-19 symptoms last for at least three months. Symptoms can vary widely, including fatigue, breathlessness, brain fog and pain. 

Hicks said that although his managers initially followed county procedures for employees diagnosed with COVID and allowed him to work from home for the first week, Juvenile Court Director Thom Lattig “insisted” that Hicks work through his time off, which Hicks did “out of fear of retaliation,” the lawsuit said. 

Lattig, who is also individually named in the lawsuit along with the county, did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

Hicks said his health continued to deteriorate “as long COVID symptoms took hold,” and said he took nearly six months off from work using a combination of the Federal Medical Leave Act and short-term disability leave. Long COVID is now federally recognized as a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

In June 2023, he recovered enough to return to work; however, the county denied his request to initially work from home two days per week. The written policy at the time allowed all court employees to work from home up to one day a week without any medical reason, but Hicks said he was denied that right as well, without an explanation. 

Back to work

On his first day back at work on June 21, 2023, Hicks said he met with Lattig and “was shocked” when Lattig relieved Hicks of all managerial and supervisory responsibilities.

He said before his 2022 medical leave, he received excellent performance reviews.

Hicks said that, despite his salary remaining at his managerial rate, his duties largely reflected a demotion, and his responsibilities reverted to those of his entry-level position in the therapy and care of juvenile offenders; he also was no longer allowed to supervise staff.

Lattig removed Hicks from the office space he previously used prior to his medical leave and was told to use “small communal tables in a common area.” Hicks said his former office space was not assigned to another employee.

Despite the challenges, Hicks said he “initially thought he could outlast Lattig’s behavior, and hoped he would return to Lattig’s good graces once enough time passed.” 

Hicks said that proved not to bear out and that the retaliation continued, especially after he inquired in January 2024 about potentially using medical leave for an upcoming minor surgery. The request “seemed to reignite Lattig’s ire” and the situation “became too much to bear,” according to the lawsuit.

HR complaint filed

On Feb. 11, 2024, Hicks filed a harassment and discrimination complaint against Lattig with Circuit Court Administrator Susan Franklin, Assistant Director of Support Services Ann Heerde and Zachary VanOsdol, who was the acting director of county human resources at the time. 

In the complaint, Hicks said Lattig had retaliated against him for using FMLA during and after his return to work in June 2023. Despite the allegation, “no one investigated (Hicks’) report or took action,” according to the lawsuit.

VanOsdol left the county’s employ in May 2025. He did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.

Hicks said he didn’t receive an update on his complaint until he was called into a meeting on May 2, 2024, with VanOsdol and Heerde, where the county issued a written reprimand to Hicks, claiming he was late to work on instances in January and February that year — which Hicks denies. 

The reprimand led to additional retaliation from Lattig, Hicks said in his lawsuit.

Hicks said Lattig required him to share a detailed retrospective log of daily activities, which “harmed (Hicks’) credibility with his coworkers, who turned his detailed calendar into a running joke,” the lawsuit claims.

Hicks said he also was required to keep Heerde “thoroughly informed of his location through text, including incidental events like bathroom breaks.” 

Hicks said he also was “forced to find a card reader at the beginning of the day and scan his badge” so his managers could track his activities and physical location at all times, even when he was at county locations where his badge does not grant access. 

“This led to court bailiffs questioning (Hicks) about this unusual behavior and awkward encounters with coworkers when he could not allow them to hold open the door for him, because he needed to find a badge scanner and scan it to create a record of the time of his entrance,” Hicks said in the lawsuit. 

Hicks said when the Juvenile Court staff was working to move to the new Family Justice Center this summer, the office he was originally assigned to was reassigned to the court's probation manager; Hicks was told “there was no space for him to physically work at the Family Justice Center,” even though the majority of his colleagues were afforded space there. 

By October, Hicks told Heerde and HR that he required the surgery he had previously asked about at the beginning of 2024, and that he would formally request FMLA again to recover. He also inquired about the status of his complaint against Lattig, noting his concerns about additional retaliation. 

Just a few weeks later, court administration told Hicks he would be reassigned to his old office, although it was now a shared space. When he moved into his old office on Jan. 20, he said there was almost no working heat. 

“Multiple meetings had to be relocated because the office was too cold for others to be in,” according to the complaint. Hicks said Heerde would “wear a coat and gloves if meeting with (Hicks) in his office.”

As Hicks attempted to troubleshoot the problem with facilities maintenance, he discovered an email from facilities staff “that someone from the court had requested the heat to be turned off or significantly cut right around the time that (Hicks) was meant to move into it.”

Hicks also said other employees asked about his upcoming surgery, even though he claims to have only shared his medical status and plans with HR and management. 

“When (Hicks) expressed his discomfort to Heerde that this medical information had been shared, she apologized and explained it was announced to the managers during a managers' meeting,” according to the complaint.

The lawsuit claims Lattig and the county interfered and retaliated against Hicks under the FMLA and that it violated Hicks’ rights under the Persons With Disabilities Civil Rights Act.

The lawsuit is requesting that the county pay Hicks economic and compensatory damages, restore him to his prior job position and job duties and compensate him for his costs and reasonable attorney fees.

Hicks is represented by attorney Sarah Riley-Howard, of Grand Rapids-based Pinsky Smith.

— Sarah Leach is the executive editor of the Ottawa News Network. Contact her at sleach@ottawanewsnetwork.org. Follow her on Twitter @ONNLeach.