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Meyer v Michigan Mutual Liability Company; (ICC-UNP, 3/10/1976; RB #17)

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Isabella County Circuit Court; File No. 75-0005538-NI; Unpublished   
Judge Paul F. O'Connell
Official Michigan Reporter Citation: Not Applicable; Link to Opinion alt    


STATUTORY INDEXING:
Standards for Deductibility of State and Federal Governmental Benefits [§3109(1)]
General / Miscellaneous [§3109]

TOPICAL INDEXING:
Legislative Purpose and Intent   


CASE SUMMARY:
Applying the traditional constitutional test that a statutory classification must be "reasonable" and not "arbitrary, oppressive or capricious," the court found that §3109(1) of the Michigan No-Fault Law, which requires a subtraction from no-fault benefits of benefits provided by law but which does not require such a subtraction of voluntarily contracted for benefits, was violative of the equal protection clauses of the Michigan and United States Constitutions. Judge O'Connel’s decision, which came after Judge Porter's opinion, relied heavily on the opinion of Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Horace Gilmore in the Shavers, supra, case. Both judges acknowledged that even though the object of §3109(1) was to prevent the duplication of no-fault payouts and/or to reduce no-fault premiums, there was no rational reason to differentiate between those people covered by private insurance plans and those individuals covered under governmental programs such as workers' compensation laws. According to the dictates of §3109(1), the former class are allowed to retain duplicate payments while the latter must subtract their governmental benefits from their no-fault benefits. Both judges held that such differentiation was constitutionally impermissible.


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