by: WOODTV.com staff
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) —By declining to issue a temporary restraining order, a federal judge is ruling that would have prevented migrant farm workers from having to be tested for coronavirus.
U.S. District Court Judge Paul Maloney's ruling on Friday does not put an end to the lawsuit challenging the state-mandated testing. Rather, it says the state’s requirement stands while the lawsuit continues to move through the court system.
Court documents show the suit was filed last week by several seasonal farm workers and two fruit farms, including one in Van Buren County, against Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Director Robert Gordon and the head of the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Legal experts say the center of the dispute is an emergency order that Gordon issued Aug. 3 telling migrant housing operators and businesses that employ migrant workers to test everyone for the virus starting Aug. 24. The lawsuit claims the order is discriminatory because it targets Latinos and goes on to argue that it could cause harm to farms if workers refuse to get tested and therefore can’t help harvest crops.
More: WOODTV.com