Leelanau County Circuit Court; File No. 76-325-2-NI; Unpublished
Judge Charles M. Forster
Official Michigan Reporter Citation: Not Applicable; Link to Opinion 
STATUTORY INDEXING:
Not Applicable
TOPICAL INDEXING:
Workers Disability Compensation Act (MCL 418.1, et seq.)
CASE SUMMARY:
Circuit Judge Forster ruled from the bench that where an injured plaintiff who sustained compensable injury while in the course of his employment makes recovery against a third party defendant automobile driver, the workers' compensation carrier has no interest in the recovery made by the principal plaintiff when the plaintiff's recovery from the third-party tortfeasor is limited by the no-fault statute to "noneconomic" losses for the first three years following the injury. The basis for the decision was that no part of the workers' compensation benefits paid within the three years constitutes noneconomic losses. So ruling, Judge Forster paralleled the recent decision of the Michigan Court of Appeals in Murray v Ferris, wherein the court struck down §3116 of the No-Fault Statute, which permitted a first-party no-fault carrier to be reimbursed out a subsequent tort recovery for those PIP benefits paid by the no-fault carrier to the injured person.
