LANSING, MI (AP)-- Michigan teachers are celebrating a court ruling that they be returned wages that were withheld from paychecks for retiree health care.
Public school employees had 3 percent of their pay deducted for about two years under a 2010 law signed by Governor Jennifer Granholm.
Once the law was declared unconstitutional, Governor Rick Snyder signed a new one in 2012 that's been upheld by the Michigan Supreme Court.
But the state appeals court again ruled 2-1 Tuesday that initial salary deductions were improper. The money's in an interest-bearing escrow account with more than $550 million.
MEA President Steven Cook says the union has "seen this fight to what we hope is the end." A state budget office spokesman says an appeal is being reviewed in consultation with Michigan's attorney general.
