Michigan Nursery and Landscape Association

Update: On April 24, Michigan’s Gov. Whitmer signed Executive Order 2020-59 (COVID-19), which allows for lawn care and landscapers to get back to work in the state. While EO 2020-59 extends the “Stay Home, Stay Safe” order through May 15, it lifts “some restrictions on outdoor activities and allow some workers who perform previously suspended activities to go back to work.” Read the state press release here, and the executive order 2020-59 here. ______________________________ The Michigan Nursery and Landscape Association (MNLA); five landscaping, lawn-care, and retail-garden-center businesses; and an employee filed a class-action lawsuit Saturday regarding Governor Whitmer’s Executive Order 2020-42. The plaintiffs’ accompanying emergency motion—for an order allowing them to immediately reopen and resume service and sales—explains that the Order’s application to businesses in the landscaping, lawn-care, and retail-garden-center industry violates the Commerce Clause and Due Process Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The lawsuit also requests class-action status and damages on behalf of every business in Michigan affected by the shutdown and adds to a growing number of suits filed around the State. “While we fully support the Governor’s focus on keeping people safe, ours is an outdoor industry and one that can get Michiganders back to work safely,” said Amy Upton, MNLA’s Executive Director. “Every state in the nation except Michigan recognizes our ability to work safely and allows our industry to stay open. The other states’ approach makes sense. It’s easy to mow the lawn, trim trees, install plantings, and sell plants and seeds for curbside pickup ...