Jackson, Mich. (WKHM) — An April 22 opinion from the Michigan Court of Appeals says that the lawsuit J. Jeffers & Co. filed against the City of Jackson regarding the sale of the Hayes Hotel was erroneously dismissed.
The initial complaint alleged the city breached its contract with the developer following the sale of the Hayes Hotel to other developer Collier Gibson for $25,000.
An attempted temporary restraining order by J. Jeffers to stop the sale was ruled down in court, with Judge Richard LaFlamme reasoning that since the contract between the City and J. Jeffers had expired, the city had no responsibility to adhere to the contract.
When the City filed a motion to dismiss the case, J. Jeffers filed an amended complaint, one that the Court of Appeals says made a new claim against the City, and was not given enough consideration before the case was dismissed.
“We note Counts Three and Four appear to largely replicate plaintiff’s original counts one (breach of contract for agreeing to sell the hotel to Collier Gibson) and two (equitable estoppel). Count Five, however, is completely new. It alleges a claim of unjust enrichment against Collier Gibson and its affiliated entity, defendant 228 Michigan Ave, LLC. In short, [J. Jeffers] claims it performed significant work on the hotel project for the better part of three years, increasing its value, and that Collier Gibson unjustly reaped the reward.”
The Court of Appeals labeled this is a procedural error, and did not confirm or deny any arguments made by either J. Jeffers or the City of Jackson. They simply reset the matter to when J. Jeffers filed their Amended Complaint.
“Given the trial court’s procedural error, we do not address any other issues raised by the parties… Having reset this matter to when [J. Jeffers] filed its First Amended Complaint, the parties are free to raise these arguments anew.”
City of Jackson Attorney Matthew Hagerty has confirmed to WKHM that the lawsuit has been remanded to trial court, and says the City intends to seek another dismissal for the amended complaint.
WKHM has reached out to the attorney listed as representing J. Jeffers in this case with no immediate response.
The unpublished opinion from the State of Michigan Court of Appeals can be read by clicking here.
