In a major rebuke of Governor Gretchen Whitmer, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled her executive orders extending the original declaration of a state of emergency violated the state constitution and was invalid. As backdrop, the Michigan legislature called a state of emergency back when the coronavirus pandemic first broke in March. That order expired however on April 30 and despite the republican-controlled legislature refusing to extend the emergency, Governor Whitmer did so unilaterally, citing the Emergency Powers of Governor Act of 1945 and the Emergency Powers Act of 1976 as the sources of her authority. Based on her assumption of this authority and in the name of safety and preventing the spread of the COVID-19 virus, she ordered the closing of businesses throughout Michigan and placed limits on the number of people who could gather together within the state and again redeclared the state of emergency as recently as last week. By a 4-3 decision however, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled that the both laws constituted “an unlawful delegation of legislative power to the executive branch” and invalidated the redeclarations of emergency. The Governor has indicated that her orders continue in effect for at least the next 21 days during which period she can decide whether to ask the court to reconsider, but suffice it to say her redeclarations have been declared unconstitutional. Despite the ruling, employers will still be required to comply with other regulatory orders by state agencies whose authority stems from other legislative and regulatory sources. Striking the executive orders of the Michigan Governor is the second such decision within a matter of weeks where gubernatorial dictates regarding coronavirus restrictions were invalidated – just a few weeks ago, we advised that a federal court struck down similar restrictions that were ordered by Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf.