In Younkin v Zimmer et al, a 2-1 published opinion by the Court of Appeals, the Court affirmed a trial court's decision to issue a writ of mandamus requiring workers' compensation claims to be heard in the locality where the injury occurred in accordance with MCL 418.851.  The majority holds that the Michigan Legislature "limited the [...]
Category: Workers’ Compensation Cases
Lego v. Liss – State Files Appeal in Governmental Immunity Case Involving “Friendly Fire” Incident
Last week, the state of Michigan filed an Application for Leave to Appeal in the Michigan Supreme Court challenging the Court of Appeals (majority) opinion in this case Lego v. Liss, holding that a police officer could be subject to liability (and not immune) in an incident in which the officer shot another police officer [...]
Court of Appeals Holds All Three Criteria in MCL 418.161(1)(n) Must Be Met Before a Person Can Be Considered an “Independent Contractor” as “Opposed to an Employee” Under Workers’ Compensation Insurance Policy
In  a published decision released yesterday, Auto Owners Ins Co v. All Star Lawn, et al Auto Owners Ins Co v. All Star Lawn, et al, the Court of Appeals concludes that all three criteria in MCL 418.161(1)(n) of the Workers Disability Compensation Act (WDCA) must be met before a person can be considered an “independent [...]
Workers’ Compensation Claimants Must Establish “Stokes” Evidence Even for Closed Period of Disability
In an unpublished opinion released yesterday (Tatar v. Ryder.OPN), the Court of Appeals affirmed the Michigan Compensation Appellate Commission’s decision to overturn a closed period award of workers' compensation benefits. The Commission ruled Plaintiff's failure to meet his burden of proof under Stokes, that he was unable to find jobs that remained within his qualifications and [...]
RICO Not Applicable To Employee’s Workers’ Compensation Dispute and Claims Holds En Banc Panel of Sixth Circuit
In a significant opinion that is bound to be pushed up to the Supreme Court by the plaintiffs, the Sixth Circuit today issued an en banc decision reversing its previous holding in this case and overruling Brown v. Cassens Transport, 675 F.3d 946 (2012) (Brown II), in which the Court had previously allowed claims against employers and [...]