A very public dispute over mounted police reservists has resulted in a lawsuit filed against public officials and the Village of Oxford.
The council questioned the legal standing of the mounted unit during a January 2017 meeting and took action against three residents who had been serving as police reservists.
The attorney for Dr. Bruce Meyers, Kallie Roesner-Meyers and Eugenia Calocassides filed what he said is a first-of-its-kind federal lawsuit. Phillip Ellison alleges action taken during a January 2017 meeting violated federal "reputation" law.
"The village council decided all of a sudden, out-of-the-blue, not only they didn't want that (mounted unit), they also stripped my clients completely of their position as reservists in the village and trashed their good name and reputation and that's wrong," said Ellison.
The three were invited to participate in President Donald Trump's inauguration in Washington, D.C., but Ellison said the council refused to send them. They went on their own representing the state as part of the Michigan Multi-Jurisdictional Mounted Police Drill Team and Color Guard.
"Not only do they want their reputation back, they want an acknowledgement that the village screwed up in treating them the way they did," Ellison told Action News. He said they also want reimbursement for their expenses for the trip.
The case has been assigned to Chief US District Judge Denise Page Hood in Detroit.
Action News reached out to village attorney Robert Charles Davis for comment but he has not responded.
