Michigan Supreme Court orders $550M returned to teachers in 3% lawsuit

After a court battle that lasted more than seven years, Michigan teachers will get their money back.  

The dispute is over money collected under a 2010 law that required teachers and other scho personnel to contribute 3 percent of their salaries toward their retirement health care. That money was collected between 2010 and 2013 before a legal battle threw it into an escrow account, which has since grown to $550 million.  

An order issued by the Supreme Court on Wednesday affirmed the crux of a lower court's ruling. It agreed that the money had been collected unconstitutionally, and a new 2012 law that passed constitutional muster did not retroactively apply to the money collected before its enactment.