St Clair County Circuit Court; Docket No. 78-9-221-C; Unpublished
Judge Halford I. Streeter
Official Reporter Citation: Not Applicable; Link to Opinion 
STATUTORY INDEXING:
Work Loss Benefits: Relevance of Sick and Vacation Pay [§3107(1)(b)]
General / Miscellaneous [§3109a]
TOPICAL INDEXING:
Not Applicable
CASE SUMMARY:
Concurring with the decision in Orr v DAIIE (item number 35) Judge Streeter held that under a coordinated benefits no-fault insurance policy an insured was not required to exhaust sick leave benefits prior to being entitled to collect no-fault work loss benefits. The suit involved a plaintiff who was an employee of the City of Port Huron and who had accumulated sick leave time. Once the sick leave benefits had been dissipated, the plaintiff was not entitled to any sick leave benefits until his work attendance rebuilt the sick bank. In addition, the plaintiff had retirement type benefits which entitled him to receive 50 percent of the per diem wages at the time of either his retirement or termination with the city. Judge Streeter, in an opinion from the bench, indicated that the uniqueness of the employee's sick leave benefits were such that they were not within the contemplation of coordinated benefits as defined by §3109(a) of the no-fault statute. Accordingly, the no-fault carriers position that they should be deducted as coordinated benefits was against public policy and was unconstitutional.
In addition, Judge Streeter awarded plaintiff 12 percent interest and a one-third attorney fee with regard to the collection of the overdue no-fault wage loss benefits. In addition, Judge Streeter assessed the customary six percent ordinary judgment interest in civil cases.
