After a negative reaction, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and the former state health director agreed this week to waive a confidentiality clause related to a $ 155,000 termination agreement amid the official’s abrupt resignation in January.
The departure, announced by Robert Gordon on Jan. 22, along with his heavy pay, raised concerns in the media and state legislators, prompting Democrat Whitmer to revoke the clause on Thursday “in the interest of greater transparency,” reported the Detroit FOX 2.
Gordon resigned a day after issuing an order to allow meals to resume indoors, WDIV-TV in Detroit reported.
Neither Whitmer nor Gordon provided the reason for his departure, but his successor, Elizabeth Hertel, hinted that Whitmer and Gordon may have had a different opinion on coronavirus orders.
MICHIGAN GOV. WHITMER THREATENED WITH SUBPOENA ON SECRET PAYMENT TO HEALTH DIRECTOR
State Republicans want to question Gordon about the nature of his departure.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer and former state health director Robert Gordon agreed to waive a confidentiality clause related to the health director’s $ 155,000 compensation amid his abrupt dismissal in January.
(Getty Images / AP)
“Many of these decisions are not based on science and data,” said Republican state deputy Matt Hall, according to FOX 2. “They are based on politics and one way to get to the bottom of this is by asking Robert Gordon to ask more questions. about your time in the department and what led you to leave. What kind of disagreement potentially led to this? “
Gordon wrote a one-page letter to the State House Oversight Committee investigating the resignation, but did not agree to testify.
He said there were “healthy conversations” and “robust talks about political issues that reasonable people could disagree with and agree”, adding that the conversations had “strong results” with respect to the coronavirus, that is, reducing the mortality rate in the state.
MICHIGAN GOV. WHITMER’S HEALTH DIRECTOR RECEIVED PAYMENT BETWEEN ABRUPT RESIGNATION: REPORT
The governor “deserves a health director with whom he feels comfortable. I resigned and she accepted,” he wrote.
Republican state deputy Steven Johnson, chairman of the oversight committee, has pledged to issue subpoenas and review records related to any termination agreements under the Whitmer government.
Ted Goodman, state spokesman for the Republican Party, said that “the Michiganders deserve to know why Mr. Gordon left and why a confidentiality agreement was required in the first place.”
Republicans in the state also wanted Whitmer to be investigated about how she handled pandemic deaths in nursing homes – but state attorney general Dana Nessel, a Democrat, denied the request on Monday.
Still, Lonnie Scott, executive director of Progress Michigan, a liberal advocacy group, noted that the Republican-led state legislature has had 30 termination deals totaling more than $ 630,000 and $ 60,000 in legal deals over the past 10 years, details of which have not been released.
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Scott said Republican Party lawmakers are more interested in “unilateral glass than real transparency”, according to WDIV.