The Michigan Supreme Court has used a dispute at a women's shelter to clarify the scope of the state's whistleblower protection law.
In a decision this week, the court says the law doesn't protect people who simply believe an illegal act might be in the works.
Barbara Pace claimed she was fired at an agency called SIREN, in Eaton County, because she reported that a co-worker planned to use grant money to buy a stove.
Pace says she was dismissed in violation of Michigan's whistleblower protections.
But the Supreme Court says the whistleblower law can be triggered when a suspicious act has already occurred or is ongoing.
SIREN says it found no evidence of wrongdoing in the alleged stove scheme.
The case now returns to the appeals court.
