City clerk files a lawsuit over election suspension; seeks job back

City Clerk Rana Faraj, who is on paid administrative leave, is suing the mayor, city council and interim city manager. Faraj is accusing them of retaliating against her for bringing attention to suspected election fraud, and other issues. File photo

By Charles Sercombe
In an expected move, City Clerk Rana Faraj is hitting back at the city after being placed on paid suspension.
She recently filed a 45-page lawsuit against the mayor, city councilmembers and Interim City Manager Alex Lagrou for suspending her, saying it was in retaliation of informing the state Attorney General about alleged election fraud committed by some councilmembers and their supporters.
The election fraud in question involves accusations of ballot harvesting.
Attorney Reno Arabo, of Marko Law, told The Metro Times that “Hamtramck is once again sending a dangerous message that if you expose misconduct, the city will come after you, not the wrongdoing. This lawsuit is about making clear that retaliating against an election official for enforcing Michigan election law will have serious consequences.”
Faraj was placed on paid suspension after the Nov. 4 election, when 37 absentee ballots were discovered in her office in their sealed envelopes that had not been counted.
Faraj says that, after discovering them, she submitted the ballots to Wayne County election officials.
However, the four-member Wayne County Board of Canvassers deadlocked in a 2-2 vote on whether to allow the ballots to be included in the vote tally. The tie vote meant that, by existing law, the ballots could not be admitted for counting.
The two Republican members of the board said that, since the ballots were left in Faraj’s office unguarded, and multiple people subsequently went in and out of that office, the ballots could have been tampered with.
The two Democratic members argued that not counting the ballots disenfranchises those 37 voters.
Some in the city accused Faraj of mishandling the matter, although Faraj disputes that claim.
The city has started an independent investigation into the matter, said City Attorney Odey Meroueh.
Faraj, who has been city clerk for four years and came here with no prior experience in a city clerk’s office, said that, prior to the election, some councilmembers — and one in particular who is not named in her lawsuit — have been “trying to find something to hold against her” after she informed the state AG’s office about ballot harvesting.
“This individual has a long, documented history of obstructing the election process, intimidating election workers, and openly ignoring procedures for his own benefit,” Faraj said. “Throughout the 2023 City Council election, he consistently undermined my office’s efforts to carry out a fair election.”
In her lawsuit, Faraj is also accusing the city of violating the Michigan Whistleblowers’ Protection Act.
Faraj is seeking compensatory damages, attorney fees and for the court to “grant such other relief as justice and equity require.”
Faraj is also seeking her job back, and for the defendants to “cease and desist from all retaliation.”
She said city officials have “attempted the destruction of her career” through defamation, and that their actions against her have resulted in stress, damage to her professional reputation, mental anguish, humiliation, anxiety, economic damages and other damages.
Mayor Amer Ghalib, who is named in the lawsuit, issued this statement to a news outlet in response to the lawsuit:
“When she reported some election issues to the AG office earlier this year, the city did not even give her a verbal warning for doing that.
“We considered that as part of her job and nothing was wrong with it, and no one took any action against her.
“However, she was placed on paid administrative leave after the most recent city election of last November, due to multiple issues that took place in the clerk office the election day, including finding 37 open ballots that were not tabulated or followed chain of custody and stayed in the office for 24-48 hours before reporting them to Wayne County, allowing unauthorized people to stay in the clerk office the day of election including the former city clerk and the former city attorney, and finding a punching bag in the clerk office with a picture of one of the mayoral candidates on it.
“The plan was to give her a warning and ask her to come back to work, but her attorney sent a request letter asking for $500,000 by the end of that day, or they will file a lawsuit.
“The city decided not to be exploited or blackmailed by anyone, especially those who committed huge mistakes that affected election outcomes and placed the city at risk of liability.
“The city will defend its resources and the taxpayers’ money and will not allow anyone to abuse their power or illegally absorb its resources. We think our legal position is strong in this case.”
The Marko law firm is also representing former City Manager Max Garbarino, who was also fired after he OK’d an internal investigation into alleged wrongdoings by former Police Chief Jamiel Altaheri.
Hamtramck police officer Dave Adamczyk was also fired for his part in that investigation. Both Garbarino and Adamczyk are saying the mayor and city council violated the state’s Michigan Whistleblowers’ Protection Act.
Adamczyk was originally part of Garbarino’s lawsuit, but has since hired a new attorney and filed a separate lawsuit.
Posted Dec. 12, 2025