Two court bailiffs in their 80s were dismissed from their positions with the 36th District Court last week.
The two bailiffs were the last in the state, according to Michigan Capital Confidential, after the position was eliminated throughout the rest of the state decades earlier.
When the bailiffs were first dismissed in 2016, they sued the court alleging age discrimination. However, the Michigan Court of Appeals found the bailiffs were dismissed because they could no longer perform their duties and not because of their ages.
One bailiff was on oxygen and in a wheelchair, while the second had trouble with stairs, according to the news site. They each had delegated core responsibilities of their jobs, including serving court papers, evicting unlawful tenants, repossessing property and driving, to other individuals.
Bailiffs were replaced in the 1960s and 1970s statewide, except for Detroit, where the two men were grandfathered in with the creation of the 36th District in 1981, according to the site.
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