A seventy-four year precedent overruled

  The four activist members of Michigan's Supreme Court struck again this week, when they over-turned a 74 year-old Supreme Court decision relating to workers compensation jurisdiction.  The injured worker involved was originally a Michigan resident who was hired by a Michigan corporation.  Eventually, he was transferred to a Florida work-site, where about ten years ago, he fell from a ladder suffering wrist and knee injuries.  His medical expenses and lost wages were covered by workers compensation, however, when he recently needed surgery, the employer relied on Florida workers compensation law to deny coverage.

        In approximately a dozen cases, beginning with a case in the 1940s, the Michigan Courts have followed a Supreme Court precedent awarding comp benefits (essentially medical expenses and 2/3 of lost pay for on-the-job injuries) to any worker employed by a Michigan company under a contract of employment that originated in Michigan.  The activist conservatives rejected almost 80 years of precedent and ignored the fact that the Legislature had 70 years to re-write the legislation if it disagreed with the Court's prior interpretation.  The four insurance sycophants held that Michigan's comp law protects only current Michigan residents--not employees who have been transferred to another state. Another victory for big corporations over the working stiffs of Michigan.