Michigan Court of Appeals; Docket No. 66718; Published
Judges Shepherd, Bronson, and Warshawsky; Unanimous; Per Curiam
Official Michigan Reporter Citation: 132 Mich App 372; Link to Opinion 
STATUTORY INDEXING:
Exclusion for Vehicles Considered Parked [§3106(1)]
Exception for Loading / Unloading [§3106(1)(b)]
Causal Connection Requirement [§3106]
TOPICAL INDEXING:
Not Applicable
CASE SUMMARY:
In this unanimous per curiam opinion dealing with a loading/ unloading parked vehicle injury, the Court of Appeals unanimously reversed summary judgment in favor of defendant and remanded the case back to the trial court for further proceedings.
The plaintiff in this case was seriously injured when a short stairway he was descending collapsed as he was holding a 50 pound block of ice over his head in an effort to load it onto his parked truck. The Court of Appeals held that plaintiff had pled a viable cause of action under §3106(b) which permits recovery if plaintiffs injury was "a direct result of physical contact with property being lifted onto or lowered from the vehicle in the loading or unloading process." The Court held it was a question of fact whether plaintiffs contact with the ice directly resulted in his injury. Arguably, the stairway gave way under the combined weight of the plaintiff and the block of ice, in which case the weight of the ice may have been "the straw that broke the camel's back." If this scenario is true, then "physical contact" with the "property being lifted" (the ice) during the loading process could arguably have "directly resulted" in causing the plaintiffs injury.
The Court also stated that plaintiffs injuries did not fall within §3106(c) (occupying, entering into or alighting) because "the causal connection between the injuries sustained and the use of the parked vehicle was merely incidental or fortuitous." This decision reverses item number 529.
