The COA declined to read MCR 8.119(F)(5) as discrtionery. To the contrary, it held that the court rule only allows discretion to seal court records -- and specifically prohibits a court from sealing orders and opinions. Defendant's proposed interpretation of the rule ignores the rule's purpose of granting public access to court records -- whether those records inhibit employment prospects or not. The lesson: to gain an employer's "seal of approval" don't participate in activity that would generate court records that cannot be sealed.
Labels: court orders, MCR 8.119(F), Michigan, PPO, seal records, Wayne County