Kalkaska County Circuit Court; Unpublished
Judge William A. Porter; Written Opinion
Official Michigan Reporter Citation: Not Applicable; Link to Opinion 
STATUTORY INDEXING:
Loss of Consortium Claims [§3135]
TOPICAL INDEXING:
Legislative Purpose and Intent
CASE SUMMARY:
In a written Opinion, Circuit Judge William Porter held that nothing in the no-fault law, and particularly §3135, abolishes tort liability for a loss of consortium claim. As long as the physically injured person has suffered "a threshold injury,'' the person's spouse has a derivative cause of action for loss of consortium. The Court rejected defendant's argument that the spouse's derivative consortium claim must constitute a threshold injury itself. The Court reasoned that such a position would mean that the no-fault statute also requires heirs of deceased persons in wrongful death actions to suffer a threshold injury in order to maintain a wrongful death action. This is not the case. The phrase "injured person within §3135 refers to the person that is physically injured in the automobile accident as opposed to the plaintiff in a derivative action for loss of consortium.
