United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan; Unpublished
Docket No. 76-72009; Judge James P. Churchill; Summary Letter
Official Federal Reporter Citation: Not Applicable; Link to Opinion 
STATUTORY INDEXING:
Not Applicable
TOPICAL INDEXING:
Not Applicable
CASE SUMMARY:
In an Opinion summarized by a letter to the author, Judge Churchill held that where an injured plaintiff redeems a workers' compensation claim and also has pending a claim for no-fault benefits regarding related injuries, the federal court will not look behind the worker's compensation redemption order for purposes of determining the amount that the no-fault carrier can set off under §3109(1). The redemption order allocation between medical expenses and earning losses will be considered binding on the no-fault carrier even though it was not a party to the redemption. Therefore, where the plaintiff in this case allocated $6,000 for medical expenses out of a $15,000 comp redemption, and where the plaintiff did not make any claim for medical expenses against the no- fault carrier, the no-fault carrier was entitled to no subtraction for the $6,000 received for medical benefits in the workers' compensation redemption case.
It was also held that if the plaintiff's disability was such that it arose out of a combination of an auto accident and a subsequent industrial injury, then the no-fault carrier was entitled to subtraction for that portion of the workers' compensation redemption that is attributable to the time period (up to the third anniversary of the auto accident) during which the plaintiff's industrial injury at work was a factor in his total disability. Furthermore, it was held that fact questions were presented as to whether or not the work accident was the sole cause of the plaintiff’s disability, whether the automobile accident was in any way related to the disability and if the disability was due to a combination of causes; what percentage of the workers' compensation redemption should be credited against the no-fault benefits due, if any.
