Nicholas 
Prada, 
a 
former 

employee at Tomukun Noodle 
Bar on East Liberty Street, filed a 
suit in a U.S. district court Friday 
claiming he was wrongfully 
terminated 
after 
contracting 

COVID-19 in late June. According 
to the lawsuit, Prada and his 
attorney, Noah Hurwitz, allege 
that Tomukun’s actions violate 
numerous federal acts, including 
the Families First Coronavirus 
Response Act and Family Medical 
Leave Act.

In an email to The Daily, 

Hurwitz said employers should 
not retaliate against employees 
in order to protect their public 
image. 
Instead, 
they 
should 

act 
with 
compassion 
and 

understanding 
for 
employees 

who may get sick, Hurwitz said.

“It appears that Tomukun 

lost sight of its legal obligations 
to employees and punished my 
client for contracting COVID-19 
when it wouldn’t put him back on 
the schedule after he recovered,” 
Hurwitz wrote. “While we are 
all tasked with being responsible 
and doing our best to avoid spread 
of the virus, businesses should 
not attempt to pass judgment on 
employees who fall ill.” 

University 
of 
Michigan 

faculty members are considering 
a vote of no confidence in the 
administration 
due 
to 
the 

University’s 
response 
to 
the 

COVID-19 pandemic and fall 
reopening plan, faculty members 
said at an emergency Faculty 
Senate meeting Friday.

The meeting came a few days 

after a July 31 memo to University 
President Mark Schlissel from 
the President’s Advisory COVID-
19 Committee on Ethics and 
Privacy was inadvertently made 
public and began circulating 
online, sparking criticism toward 
University administration. The 
memo explicitly warned against 
the University’s reopening plan, 
and noted that the current plan 
would hit vulnerable populations 
the hardest.

A 
successful 
vote 
of 
no 

confidence 
would 
mean 
the 

Faculty Senate no longer believes 
in University leadership’s ability 
to execute its role, which in this 
case applies to the University’s 
fall reopening plan, according to 
a copy of the motion obtained by 
The Daily.

The virtual emergency meeting 

was held in response to an Aug. 
23 petition signed by more than 
200 University faculty members. 
All faculty hold membership in 
the senate. Faculty expressed 
frustration at the meeting over 
the University’s plans for the fall 
semester, which begins Monday. 

According to Faculty Senate 

Rule 4(1), a meeting can be 
organized by means of a petition 
signed by 50 or more Senate 
members. The Faculty Senate 
Office told The Daily that they 
believe this is the first time such a 
meeting has been called since the 
rule was established in 2011.

Sworn or armed police officers 

will not walk and ride around 
campus 
to 
regulate 
student 

behavior 
in 
an 
“adjusted” 

Michigan 
Ambassadors 

program, 
the 
University 
of 

Michigan confirmed on Twitter 

Sunday afternoon. The change 
came in response to “community 
concerns,” 
according 
to 
the 

announcement.

The 
University’s 
initiative 

to 
enforce 
COVID-19-related 

regulations still includes some 
law enforcement involvement. 
The ambassadors are still not 
expected to “directly engage 

with large parties or situations 
where their personal safety may 
be at risk.” Addresses reported 
for repeat violations will be also 
dealt with by police, according 
to updated information on the 
University’s COVID-19 website. 

“As was the case prior to the 

Ambassador 
program, 
sworn 

officers from UMPD and AAPD 

will still respond to emergency 
calls or other situations not 
appropriate 
for 
Ambassador 

involvement,” the website reads.

The Michigan Ambassadors 

— 
University 
students 
and 

staff who walk around campus 
reminding students to wear 

michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Wednesday, September 2, 2020

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-NINE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM

After almost six months of no 

physical paper, The Michigan 
Daily will be printing once a week 
this fall on Wednesdays as long as 
students are living on campus.

In March, The Daily pivoted 

with the rest of the world to battle 
a global pandemic. We halted 
our print edition after March 
13 as students fled campus, but 
we doubled down on our online 
presence and saw a growing 
digital audience. We worked hard 
to bring the University and Ann 
Arbor communities the news over 
the summer, too. 

The University has brought 

students back to campus for 

an in-residence fall semester. 
However, COVID-19 is still very 
much a threat. Most classes 
are being offered remotely and 
University buildings will be at 
reduced capacity to allow for 
social distancing. 

Due to less campus and city 

circulation, as well the need for 
financial responsibility, The Daily 
is printing once a week rather 
than five days. We will also print 
special editions this semester — be 
sure to pick up a print copy of our 
Welcome Back issue on Monday, 
Aug. 31. We will not, however, 
continue creating digital PDF 
papers without a print counterpart 
on our issuu as we did in March 
and throughout the summer.

None of this will impact our 

core mission and responsibility: 
to inform our readers and to hold 
the people with power at this 
University and in Washtenaw 
County 
accountable. 
These 

past few weeks, we’ve reported 
tirelessly on various issues with 
the University’s reopening, from 
unenforced housing precautions 
to concerns about testing plans. 
Not to mention our summer 
staff’s reporting on racial justice 
protests, WilmerHale’s report on 
former Provost Martin Philbert’s 
sexual misconduct and The Big 
Ten’s football postponement. This 
coverage will continue. 

Check 
our 
website, 

michigandaily.com, for our latest 
print and multimedia content. 
Follow us on our Instagram, 

Twitter 
and 
Facebook. 
Our 

handle on all platforms is @
michigandaily. 
Download 
our 

app. Subscribe to our YouTube 
channel, The Michigan Daily. 
Listen to our four podcasts: The 
Daily Weekly, Arts Interrupted, 
Pass the MiC and Highway to 
Hail. We have a new weekly 
newsletter, The Michigan Daily 
Weekly Roundup, that launches 
this Thursday. Subscribe here to 
have each week’s most pressing 
stories sent straight to your 
inbox. University students are 
automatically subscribed.

Thank you to our readers for 

your support. You can always 
reach out to us with news tips or 
letters to the editor. We greatly 
appreciate your feedback.

GOT A NEWS TIP?
Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail 
news@michigandaily.com and let us know.

INDEX
Vol. CXXIX, No. 128
©2019 The Michigan Daily

N E WS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

M I C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

O PI N I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

A RT S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 0

STATEMENT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

SPORTS.......................15
michigandaily.com

For more stories and coverage, visit

BUSINESS

ISABELLA PREISSLE 

Daily Staff Reporter

RESEARCH

Follow The Daily 
on Instagram, 
@michigandaily

See LAWSUIT, Page 3

Read more at 
MichiganDaily.com

ELIZABETH LAWRENCE

Editor in Chief 

ALEC COHEN/Daily

After almost six months of no physical paper, The Michigan Daily will be printing once a week this fall on Wednesdays as long as students are living on campus.

VARSHA VEDAPUDI 

Daily Staff Reporter

CLAIRE HAO
Daily News Editor

See AMBASSADORS, Page 3

DOMINICK SOKOTOFF 

 Daily Staff Reporter 

See VOTE, Page 3

With classes for the fall term 

starting Monday, research labs 
are set to welcome students 
back as well. However, in 
adherence to social distancing 
guidelines, the University of 
Michigan Office of Research 
has limited research capacity 
to only 45 percent density 
during 
shifts, 
causing 
all 

undergraduate 
students 

except seniors to miss out on 
in-person research experience 
this semester. 

Though 
the 
University 

opened 
limited 
research 

over the summer, in-person 
undergraduate research was 
deemed “non-essential” and 
did not resume.

Based on the latest weekly 

research 
reengagement 

update from the Office of 
Research, published Thursday, 
undergraduate students can 
only rejoin labs in which they 
“already 
have 
experience 

working 
with 
the 
same 

research 
team” 
and 
“may 

not be left alone in research 
spaces.”

 

Police officers will not patrol 
campus with U-M ambassadors

Change to program comes in response to community concerns; sworn or armed 
members of law enforcement will not walk with University students and staff

Courtesy of John Grieve

Student ambassadors patrol campus with a DPSS officer on August 25.

Faculty Senate 
considers vote of 
no confidence in 
Schlissel, admin

Frustrated with fall reopening plans, 
professors float controversial motion

From the Editor: The Michigan 
Daily’s plan for publishing this fall

As long as students are living on campus, the paper will print once a week

Limits put 
undergrad 
research at 
‘U’ on hold 

Restrictions intended 
to curb the spread of 
the coronavirus impact 
in-person opportunities

Ex-worker 
says he was 
fired over 
COVID-19

Former Tomukun waiter 
files lawsuit claiming he 
wrongfully lost his job for 
contracting coronavirus 

