Michigan Court of Appeals; Docket No. 110283; Published
Judges Beasley, Danhof, and Cavanagh; Unanimous; Opinion by Judge Beasley
Official Michigan Reporter Citation: 187 Mich App 116; 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:
In this unanimous Opinion by Judge Beasley, the Court of Appeals, in accordance with the Supreme Court's earlier decisions in Great American Insurance Company v Queen (Item No. 376) and Bialochowski v Cross Concrete (Item No. 1021), held that a workers' compensation insurer is entitled to reimbursement out of a plaintiff’s auto negligence tort recovery only to the extent that the workers' compensation benefits paid to plaintiff exceed no-fault benefits otherwise payable. In such a case, the employer is entitled to a lien against the injured employee's third party tort recovery for reimbursement of the excess benefits. The employer may obtain this reimbursement regardless of whether the employee's third party tort recovery is for the same elements of loss compensated by the workers' compensation benefits. Therefore, in light of the fact that plaintiff was undeniably receiving workers’ compensation benefits beyond the three year limitation of his entitlement to no-fault wage loss benefits, the workers' compensation carrier was entitled to reimbursement and/or a future credit for those continuing payments under the Workers' Compensation Act. Accordingly, the Court of Appeals remanded the case to the trial court to "determine the amount of reimbursement and future credit to which [the employer] is entitled according to the formula set out in Franges v General Motors Corporation, 404 Mich 590 (1979)."
