Michigan Court of Appeals; Docket No. 94091; Published
Judges Holbrook, Jr., Doctoroff, and Simon, Jr.; Unanimous; Per Curiam
Official Michigan Reporter Citation: 173 Mich App 290; Link to Opinion 
STATUTORY INDEXING:
Exclusion for Parked Vehicles Covered by Workers Comp [§3106(2)]
TOPICAL INDEXING:
Not Applicable
CASE SUMMARY:
In this unanimous per curiam Opinion involving interpretation of the loading/unloading provisions of § 3106(l)(c) and (2), the Court of Appeals reversed a trial court summary disposition granting no-fault benefits to the plaintiff.
Plaintiff was employed as a tractor-trailer driver of new cars from Dearborn to the East Coast. His job was to load the cars on the trailer and unload them at the destination. As a regular practice, he checked the load at every stop along the way to make sure that the chains were tight. At one of his stops he climbed up the side of the trailer to tighten the chain with a ratchet While pulling down with his right hand and reaching up through the trailer, he slipped off the ladder and injured himself. Plaintiff received workers' compensation benefits, and also claimed no-fault benefits from Old Republic.
Reversing the trial court, the Court of Appeals held that no-fault coverage is not available where workers' compensation benefits are available to an employee who sustains injury in the course of his or her employment while loading, unloading, or doing mechanical work an a vehicle, unless the injury arose from the use or operation of another vehicle.
The Court of Appeals did not find convincing, the fact that the plaintiff was not on his employer's premises at the time of his injury. The Court noted that plaintiff’s job required loading and unloading the cars from his trailer, and that the process of loading and unloading "necessarily included insuring that the chains properly secured the vehicles into place."
