City manager lawsuit is explosive

City Manager Max Garbarino

By Charles Sercombe
A week ago, City Manager Max Garbarino warned the mayor and city council that he was going to drop a bombshell lawsuit on them if they suspend him from his job.
The city council did end up suspending him at the last council meeting.
As for the lawsuit: It is indeed explosive.
As expected, Garbarino wasted no time in filing a lawsuit against the mayor, city council and the police chief after he was suspended (with pay) at the last city council meeting.
Garbarino, who is joined in his lawsuit by the police department’s special investigator, Dave Adamczyk, filed the lawsuit claiming they were suspended with pay in violation of the Michigan Whistleblowers Act.
In the lawsuit, Garbarino portrays Police Chief Jamiel Altaheri as the polar opposite of his public persona: In the public, he’s praised. But behind the scenes, out of the public’s view, it is alleged that Altaheri engaged in a number of potentially criminal acts that include:
Being involved in domestic assaults with a woman who had their child; arranging a payment ranging from $1 million to $5 million, through a metro area associate of President Trump, to get a presidential pardon for a convicted New York financier friend; being unlawfully involved in transporting a stolen car out of New York; attempting to get the city council to fire Garbarino for reporting election fraud; directing Adamczyk to seek $40,000 to $50,000 from an unnamed towing company to sponsor the chief’s podcast; and, in two separate incidents, driving a vehicle while drunk.
In Garbarino’s lawsuit, he describes Altaheri’s behavior as being “erratic.”
The chief denies the allegations, and has issued a statement, saying:
“My message from day one has been very clear; I call on the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office, state police and FBI to follow-up on these false accusations, and all those behind these fabricated stories.”
The FBI is reportedly investigating the allegations.
Chief Altaheri quickly became popular in the community after taking on his new role in Hamtramck just a year ago. He had just retired from the New York Police Department, and wasted no time in meeting with residents, community leaders and business owners.
His infectious smile easily won the hearts and minds of residents, and he was commended for his numerous outreach programs, such as the youth police academy.
The lawsuit and what it alleges quickly spread like wildfire via local news stations and newspapers – making Hamtramck the top story in some broadcasts.
The allegations about the police chief came to light after the department’s investigator, Dave Adamczyk, filed his report on the chief with Garbarino.

Hamtramck Police Chief Jamiel Altaheri (left) congratulates investigator Dave Adamczyk when he joined the police department.

Special investigator Adamczyk said, in his joint lawsuit with Garbarino, that Police Chief Altaheri retaliated against him after he reported to Garbarino his concerns over the chief and his actions.
It was also noted in the lawsuit that Garbarino placed Adamczyk on paid administrative leave to protect him from being retaliated against and to insure the “integrity” of the investigation into the police chief’s alleged wrongdoings.
The council decided to also put Garbarino on paid leave because he is under investigation for actions that were not made entirely clear, and it’s not said who is investigating Garbarino.
So what else does the lawsuit allege?
Here’s just a glimpse:
o Councilmember Hassan “stormed” into Garbarino’s office and demanded he fire City Clerk Rana Faraj after she reported that a surveillance camera at city hall captured him dropping off a bundle of absentee ballots.
o The mayor and city council held a closed meeting in violation of the state’s Open Meetings Act to discuss suspending Garbarino.
o Garbarino, who is white and non-Muslim, “raised concerns” that the mayor and council were acting with an ethnic bias to suspend him. The mayor, council and police chief are all Muslim.
The mayor, police chief and two councilmembers are also immigrants from Yemen, and four councilmembers are immigrants from Bangladesh.
Garbarino has also issued a statement saying he told the mayor and council:
“Some of you have intimated that the chief’s ethnic background should play some kind of role in my personnel decisions. I will not, however, look the other way merely because someone is from a certain group or ethnic background. I feel that my refusal to do so here has led to discrimination directed at me because of my ethnic background.”
Garbarino further added: “I am entitled to legal protection from
such discrimination and I expect that you all, as my employers, will act in accordance with anti-discrimination laws prohibiting you from taking my race and ethnicity as a consideration in your treatment of my employment.”
Both Garbarino and Adamczyk are seeking reinstatement, as well as attorney fees and any other financial compensation the court finds appropriate.
After the lawsuit was filed, Mayor Ghalib, who is President Trump’s nominee to be the next ambassador to Kuwait, issued this statement:
“There is a comprehensive investigation that is being conducted and it will include allegations against the police chief, city manager and Officer Adamczyk.
“The three of them are on paid administrative leave at this time, but whoever is found clear and innocent, he would be reinstated to his job. No one is immune to questioning and accountability.
“I learned from our city manager that we always get sued, mostly for nonsense, so that doesn’t mean anything at this point because we have to wait for the investigation outcomes, and based on that, we would know how valid is everyone’s case and what are their chances of winning such lawsuits.”
Garbarino’s attorney Jonathan Marko released this statement:
“This lawsuit will hold Hamtramck accountable and send a clear message: public servants who protect their community from wrongdoing deserve support, not retaliation.
“I hope there is a Max and David in every city. We need people who are brave enough to stand up, expose corruption, and protect their community, even when powerful forces try to silence them.”
In a press conference on Tuesday, Marko further said:
“This is politics at its worst. This is allegations of corruption at its worst.”
He added the lawsuit “reads out of a season of ‘The Sopranos’.”
Adamczyk also spoke at the press conference, saying, “I witnessed him (Altaheri) attempt to arrange a multi-million-dollar pardon deal through Trump associates, hide domestic violence incidents and forge and deliver IDs for an associate and stashing a stolen vehicle.”
This rift in city hall comes at a time when there is a primary election coming up in August for three city council seats, as well as for the mayor’s job.
Mayor Ghalib is not seeking re-election, in hopes of being confirmed as the ambassador to Kuwait by the U.S. Senate. No date has been set for that confirmation.
In the meantime, the police department is being overseen by Deputy Police Chief Andy Mileski, and the Interim City Manager is Syed Aamir Ahsan, the city’s finance director.
On top of everything else, there is now an investigation by the state police over whether Councilmembers Abu Musa and Muhith Mahmood are actually residents in the city.
And there are also possible criminal charges pending on four councilmembers, Mohammed Hassan, Muhtasin Sadman, Mohammed Alsomiri and Abu Musa, as well as former Councilmember Nayeem Choudhury (who is seeking to be re-elected to council) and resident Tyrone Slappey.
They are alleged to have violated election law in the 2021 election, specifically ballot harvesting.
The ongoing political intrigue has blown up at recent city council meetings where residents and non-residents alike have crammed into the council chambers, resulting in people overflowing into the hallway.
Public interest in the matter has led to the public comment portion of the past couple of council meetings lasting over an hour each time.
The next city council meeting is scheduled for this coming Tuesday, June 10.
(You can read Garbarino’s and Adamczyk’s entire lawsuit online by clicking on this link: garbarino lawsuit)
Posted June 6, 2025