Title: Ouellette v. Kenealy

State: michigan

Issuer: Michigan Supreme Court

Document:

Decided December 10, 1985.
Lacey & Jones (by Phillip G. Rosenberg) for plaintiff Ouellette.
Law Offices of Frederick W. Lauck, P.C. (by Frederick W. Lauck,), for plaintiff Argenta.
Dickinson, Brandt, Hanlon, Becker & Lanctot (by Sarah Wildgen Sweet); (Gromek, Bendure & Thomas, by Nancy L. Bosh, of counsel) for defendant Kenealy.
Law Offices of Daniel Zolkower (by Conrad J. Ceglowski) for defendant Shahan.
LEVIN, J.
We granted leave to appeal in these cases to resolve a conflict in the Court of Appeals concerning whether damages for loss of earning capacity are recoverable in tort under the no-fault automobile liability act.[1] We hold that such damages are not recoverable.
In Ouellette v Kenealy, 141 Mich App 562, 564; 367 NW2d 353 (1984), the Court of Appeals affirmed *85 the decision of the trial court withdrawing the loss of earning capacity issue from the jury on the basis that such damages are not recoverable under the no-fault act. It declined to follow the decisions of another panel in Argenta v Shahan, 135 Mich App 477; 354 NW2d 796 (1984).
In Argenta v Shahan, the Court of Appeals, affirming a special verdict reduced by remittitur for damages for loss of earning capacity, held that damages for loss of earning capacity are recoverable where the plaintiff suffers a serious impairment of body function.
The no-fault act, in § 3135, abolishes tort liability arising from the ownership, maintenance, or use of a motor vehicle except, in relevant part, as to "[d]amages for noneconomic loss" "if the injured person has suffered death, serious impairment of body function, or permanent serious disfigurement," and "[d]amages for allowable expenses, work loss, and survivor's loss as defined in sections 3107 and 3110 in excess of the daily, monthly, and 3-year limitations contained in those sections."[2]
It thus appears that under the no-fault act, damages for loss of earning capacity are not damages for noneconomic loss recoverable if the injured person is found to have suffered serious impairment of body function.[3] Damages for work *86 loss, as defined in § 3107, in excess of the daily, monthly, and three-year limitations are, however, recoverable in tort under the no-fault act without regard to whether the injured person suffered death, serious impairment of body function, or permanent serious disfigurement.
Section 3107 of the no-fault act provides that personal protection benefits are payable for "work loss" consisting of "loss of income from work an injured person would have performed during the first 3 years after the date of the accident if he had not been injured...."[4]
In MacDonald v State Farm Mutual Ins Co, 419 Mich 146; 350 NW2d 233 (1984), this Court held that where a person suffers an unrelated injury, a heart attack, after an automobile accident and is rendered unable to work, eligibility for work-loss benefits ceases because no income would have been earned even if the accident had not occurred.
We said:
It is apparent from the statutory language and the drafter's comments to § 1(a)(5) of the UMVARA that economic damages, and damages for loss of earning capacity are economic damages, are recoverable in tort only, as provided in §§ 3107 and 3135, for "actual" work loss  actual "loss of income from work an injured person would have performed" if he had not been injured  when the loss of income exceeds the daily, monthly, and three-year limitations.
*88 Damages, thus, are not recoverable for loss of earning capacity.
The question of the applicable limitations period for recovery of excess work loss has not been briefed or argued, is not before us, and is not decided.
We are no longer persuaded that Shahan's remaining issues should be reviewed by this Court.[5]
Affirmed in Ouellette and reversed in Argenta.
WILLIAMS, C.J., and RYAN, BRICKLEY, CAVANAGH, and BOYLE, JJ., concurred with LEVIN, J.
RILEY, J., concurred with LEVIN, J., in Argenta only, and took no part in the decision of Ouellette.
[1]  MCL 500.3101 et seq.; MSA 24.13101 et seq.
[2]  MCL 500.3135; MSA 24.13135.
[3]  In this connection, we note that Senator Faxon proposed that the words "work loss" be changed to "loss of earning capacity." The amendment was not adopted. Senator Faxon then filed a protest which reads, in part:

"[T]he formula for reimbursement of an injured party is based upon loss of wages, rather than the loss of earning capacity, as I proposed as an amendment. By basing remuneration on the loss of income at the time of the accident, persons who are unemployed, seasonally employed, or who are housewives or senior citizens may not be adequately compensated. Only employed persons are eligible for adequate compensation. The formula is basically inequitable and discriminatory, and possibly subject to legal challenge as a denial of equal protection of the law." 1972 Senate Journal 1404.
[4]  MCL 500.3107; MSA 24.13107.
[5]  Argenta obtained a jury verdict for $42,000 for noneconomic loss. Shahan assigned as error the trial court's failure to give a Standard Jury Instruction, Argenta's counsel's jury argument, and allowing rebuttal testimony.