Taylor's parting shots at victims

In his final month on the bench, Cliff Taylor used his 4-3 majority status to throw out several claims brought by injury victims or consumers.  Among these last-minute decisions was the peremptory reversal of a case decided previously in the Court of Appeals, Chambers v. Wayne County Airport Authority.  In Chambers, the insurer/Defendant had claimed that Chambers  could not sue because he only gave oral notice of his injury to the Defendant and did not follow-up with a formal written notice served on the Defendant in accordance with the Court Rules. 

The Court of Appeals had noted that the language of the pertinent statute did not require a written notice or that it be served by a process server.  In a one-paragraph opinion, the Engler majority reversed the Court of Appeals and remanded Chambers' injury claim for "entry of an order of judgment for the defendant".  It provided no analysis or explanation for its holding and apparently did not consider it necessary to explain why four "textualists" would divert from the language of the statute to impose additional requirements on a litigant.