Michigan Court of Appeals; Docket No. 77-337; Published
Judges T. M. Burns, R. B. Burns, and W. R. Brown; (with T. M. Burns Concurring)
Official Michigan Reporter Citation: 79 Mich App 484; Link to Opinion 
STATUTORY INDEXING:
Workers Comp Liens Regarding Auto Tort Claims [§3116]
TOPICAL INDEXING:
Workers Disability Compensation Act (MCL 418.1, et seq.)
CASE SUMMARY:
The Court of Appeals, feeling it was bound by a prior workers' compensation decision by the Supreme Court in Pelkey v Elsea Realty, 394 Mich 485 (1975), reluctantly held that a workers' compensation carrier is entitled to be subrogated to an employee's third party automobile tort claim in spite of the fact that such a tort recovery was limited to noneconomic losses and the compensation carrier only paid economic losses. The Court of Appeals acknowledged that such a result does not seem equitable," but felt bound by Pelkey. In a concurring opinion, Judge T. M. Burns went so far as to say that “. . . were we writing on a clean slate. . . an employer or a compensation carrier should not be allowed to seek reimbursement out of a recovery by the employee against a third party tortfeasor where the employer or carrier did not pay compensation for the injury which the recovery represents. Compensation carriers do not pay benefits for noneconomic loss."