Gratiot County Circuit Court; No. 79-53 84-NI; Unpublished
Judge Randy L. Tahvonen; Written Opinion
Official Michigan Reporter Citation: Not Applicable; Link to Opinion 
STATUTORY INDEXING:
Workers Comp Liens Regarding Auto Tort Claims [§3116]
TOPICAL INDEXING:
Workers Disability Compensation Act (MCL 418.1, et seq.)
CASE SUMMARY:
In a written Opinion regarding an issue of first impression, Judge Tahvonen ruled that a workers' compensation carrier who paid benefits for a period of time beyond three years after an auto accident was entitled to intervene in a third party no-fault tort action for the purposes of seeking reimbursement of the workers' comp benefits paid beyond the three year anniversary date. Judge Tahvonen reasoned that the plaintiff in the third party tort action was entitled to recover, as part of his tort damages, any wage loss he sustained beyond the third anniversary date of the accident. If the workers' compensation carrier is paying benefits beyond that date, then the plaintiff would be recovering twice for wage loss beyond three years — once from the compensation carrier and again from the third party tortfeasor.
Judge Tahvonen noted that the decisions of the Court of Appeals in Flower v Gensterblum (item number 126), and Great American Insurance Company v Queen (item number 125), did not deal with the right of a workers' compensation carrier to receive reimbursements for wage loss benefits it paid beyond the third anniversary date. Thus, those decisions are not dispositive of the issue presented in this case.
