MEMORANDUM OPINION. At issue is whether defendant insurer is liable to plaintiff for personal protection insurance benefits under the no-fault act, MCL 500.3101 et seq. MCL 500.3105(1) sets forth the parameters of personal protection insurance coverage. It provides: Under personal protection insurance an insurer is liable to pay benefits for accidental bodily injury arising out of the ownership, operation, maintenance or use of a motor vehicle as a motor vehicle, subject to the...
MARKMAN, J. Plaintiff, Beverly Duffy, was injured while riding an off-road vehicle on what is commonly known as the Little Manistee Trail ("the Trail"). The state of Michigan owns the Trail, and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) maintains it. Plaintiff sued both entities, and throughout this litigation has set forth various theories to avoid the grant of governmental immunity provided to defendants in the governmental tort liability act (GTLA), MCL 691.1401 et seq. In the lower...
Opinion MARKMAN, J. Pursuant to Const. 1963, art. 3, 8, this Court granted the Governor's request for an advisory opinion on the constitutionality of 2011 PA 38. 1 More specifically, we granted the Governor's request to address the following four constitutional questions: (1) whether reducing or eliminating the statutory exemption for public-pension incomes as described in MCL 206.30, as amended, impairs accrued financial benefits of a "pension plan [or] retirement system of the state [or]...
Opinion MARILYN KELLY, J. This case requires us to resolve three issues. First, whether a utility's right of first entitlement to provide electrical service to "the entire electric load on the premises" of a "customer" ceases when the "customer" on the property changes. 1 Second, whether the Public Service Commission (PSC) is required to impose interest on a refund it awards when it determines that a utility has overcharged a consumer. Third, whether the PSC is required to impose a fine...
MARY BETH KELLY, J. In this medical malpractice action, we must decide whether a plaintiff is entitled to amend an original notice of intent (NOI) when adding a nonparty defendant to a pending action pursuant to this Court's holding in Bush v. Shabahang 1 and MCL 600.2301 so that the amended NOI relates back to the original filing for purposes of tolling the statute of limitations. We hold that a plaintiff is not entitled to amend an original NOI to add nonparty defendants so that the...
ZAHRA, J. Plaintiff, Kevin Krohn, who suffered an extremely severe spinal fracture that left him paraplegic, brought this suit under the no-fault act, MCL 500.3101 et seq. Plaintiff sought personal protection insurance benefits from defendant, Home-Owners Insurance Company, to cover costs incurred for a surgical procedure performed in Portugal. It is undisputed that this surgical procedure was experimental and not a generally accepted treatment for plaintiff's injury. The dispositive...
Opinion ZAHRA, J. We are called upon to answer the question whether a medical malpractice suit must be dismissed if a defective affidavit of merit (AOM) is filed after both the limitations period and the saving period have expired. We hold that in such cases, dismissal with prejudice must follow because allowing amendment of the deficient AOM would directly conflict with the statutory scheme governing medical malpractice actions, the clear language of the court rules, and precedent of this...
Opinion MARY BETH KELLY, J. We granted leave to appeal in this case to determine the scope of an employer's vicarious liability for quid pro quo sexual harassment affecting public services under Michigan's Civil Rights Act (CRA). 1 Specifically, we consider whether Wayne County and its sheriff's department may be held vicariously liable for a civil rights claim under MCL 37.2103(i) based on a criminal act of a deputy sheriff committed during working hours but plainly beyond the scope of his...
Opinion MARY BETH KELLY, J. In this case, we must determine whether defendant's convictions of accosting a minor for immoral purposes or encouraging a minor to commit an immoral act, MCL 750.145a, and using a computer or the Internet to accomplish the same, MCL 750.145d, should be overturned on the basis of erroneous jury instructions. The instructions given at trial did not properly apprise the jury of the actus reus of the accosting a minor statute and were therefore plainly erroneous....
Opinion MARILYN KELLY, J. This case involves a dispute over a construction contract. At issue is whether the limitations period in MCL 600.5839(1) applies to an action for breach of contract. The Court of Appeals held that it does and that the statute's six-year limitations period expired before plaintiff filed its complaint, barring the suit. Accordingly, the Court of Appeals reversed the judgment of the trial court, which had awarded plaintiff damages for breach of contract, and remanded...
Opinion YOUNG, C.J. In this case, we are called upon to determine whether the community caretaking exception to the Fourth Amendment's requirement that a warrant be obtained before a residence can be entered applies to a first-response firefighter answering a 911 call and, if so, whether the firefighter's entry into defendant's residence was reasonable in the instant case. We conclude that the community caretaking exception applies to firefighters no less than to police officers when they are...
Opinion MICHAEL F. CAVANAGH, J. The issue in this case is whether the trial court abused its discretion when it concluded that defendants were personally notified of the default judgment against them and denied defendants' motion to set aside the judgment. We hold that the trial court abused its discretion and that defendants are entitled to relief from the judgment under MCR 2.612(B) because (1) personal jurisdiction over defendants was necessary and apparently acquired, 1 (2) defendants...
Opinion MARKMAN, J. ON REHEARING This case returns to this Court on a motion for rehearing. The Michigan Campaign Finance Act (MCFA) prohibits a "public body" from using public resources to make a "contribution or expenditure" for political purposes. MCL 169.257(1). At issue in this case is whether a public school district's administration of a payroll deduction plan that collects and remits political contributions from its employees to the Michigan Education Association's political action...
MICHAEL F. CAVANAGH, J. Plaintiff, an employee of an electrical subcontractor, was injured at a construction site when several cement boards fell on him. The boards had been leaned against a wall by employees of defendant, a carpentry and drywall subcontractor, which, like plaintiff's employer, had been hired by a general contractor to work on the construction project. Plaintiff sued defendant for negligence and defendant moved for summary disposition, asserting that, under Fultz v. Union-...
Opinion YOUNG, C.J. This case requires us to consider whether a plaintiff who seeks to establish an adverse possession claim that would affect property in a recorded plat must file a claim under the Land Division Act (LDA), MCL 560.101 et seq., if the plaintiff is not expressly requesting that the plat be vacated, corrected, or revised. We hold that an action that seeks to establish a substantive property right arises independently of an LDA action to vacate, correct, or revise a...
MARILYN J. KELLY, J. In these consolidated cases, we must determine whether circuit courts have subject matter jurisdiction over appeals from the State Tax Commission (STC) regarding property classifications. We conclude that they do. We hold that, because they constitute final decisions that are quasi-judicial and affect private rights, STC property-classification decisions fall within the ambit of article 6, 28 of the Michigan Constitution, which guarantees judicial review. The...
Opinion MARILYN J. KELLY, J. This appeal involves the small employer group health coverage act, 1 which establishes requirements for insurance carriers that offer health insurance benefit plans to small employers in Michigan. We address the narrow issue of whether 3711(2) of the act, MCL 500.3711(2), prevents a carrier from requiring a small employer to pay a minimum percentage of its employees' health insurance premiums. 2 Both the Court of Appeals and the Commissioner of the Office of...
Opinion MICHAEL F. CAVANAGH, J. This case involves the General Property Tax Act (GPTA) 1 and two particular circumstances in which a conveyance of property may or may not permit a taxing authority to "uncap" and reassess the value of that property. Specifically, we granted leave to appeal to address whether a "conveyance" as that term is used in MCL 211.27a(3) must be by means of a written instrument and whether, under MCL 211.27a(7)(h), petitioner's property was uncapped for purposes of...
Opinion CORRIGAN, J. This case requires us to clarify the correct interpretation of the statutory "180-day rule" established by MCL 780.131 and MCL 780.133. The object of this rule is to dispose of new criminal charges against inmates in Michigan correctional facilities; the rule requires dismissal of the case if the prosecutor fails to commence action on charges pending against an inmate within 180 days after the Department of Corrections (DOC) delivers notice of the inmate's imprisonment....
