Wayne County Circuit Court; Docket No. 76-636-624-CK; Unpublished
Judge Charles Farmer; Ruling on Summary Judgment
Official Michigan Reporter Citation: Not Applicable; Link to Opinion 
STATUTORY INDEXING:
Work Loss Benefits: Nature of the Benefit [§3107(1)(b)]
General / Miscellaneous [§3109a]
TOPICAL INDEXING:
Legislative Purpose and Intent
CASE SUMMARY:
In a Motion for Summary Judgment, Judge Farmer held that a first party no-fault carrier could not compel its insured to exhaust "sick leave benefits" available through his employment before paying the insured PIP benefits under a no-fault insurance policy. The plaintiff involved in this case was an employee of Wayne County who had accumulated sick time in proportion to the number of days worked. If the accumulated sick time was dissipated, the employee would no longer be entitled to these sick leave benefits until his employment attendance rebuilds the sick bank. Furthermore, upon the employee's retirement or resignation a portion of the accumulated sick time is paid in cash, and in the event of death, all accumulated sick time is paid.
The court held that such sick leave benefits are not the type contemplated in the so-called "coordinated benefits" no-fault policy sanctioned by §3109(a) of the No-Fault Statute. Such benefits are in the nature of employee contribution plans similar to the social security benefits discussed in O'Donnell v State Farm, 70 Mich App 487. As such, the policy's exclusionary clauses were invalid as applied to employees' sick time and was held to be against public policy.
