Order Michigan Supreme Court 

Lansing, Michigan 

February 1, 2008 Clifford W. Taylor,

 Chief Justice 

130836 & (70) Michael F. Cavanagh 

Elizabeth A. Weaver 

Marilyn Kelly 

Maura D. Corrigan 

MONIKA MAZUMDER, Personal Robert P. Young, Jr. 

Stephen J. Markman, Representative of the Estate of Justices Deepika S. Mazumder, Deceased, 

Plaintiff-Appellee, 

v SC: 130836 

 COA: 261331 

Washtenaw CC: 04-001101-NM 

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN 

REGENTS, ROBERT A. KOEPKE, 

PH.D., RAJIV TANDON, M.D.,

SATOSHI MINOSHIMA, M.D.,

WASHTENAW COUNTY 

COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH, 

JOSEPH YAROCH, M.D.,

MOONSON R. ELLIOTT ENINSCHE,

B.A., R.S.W., C.S.M., and RICHARD 

PFOUTZ, M.S.W., C.S.W., 

 Defendants, 

and 

MOHAMED AZIZ, M.D., and

STEPHAN F. TAYLOR, M.D.,

 Defendants-Appellants, 

and 

SRINIBAS MAHAPATRA, M.D., 

 Defendant.
 

_________________________________________/ 

By order of April 4, 2007, the application for leave to appeal the February 23, 

2006 judgment of the Court of Appeals was held in abeyance pending the decision in 

Mullins v St Joseph Mercy Hosp (Docket No. 131879). On order of the Court, the case 

having been decided on November 28, 2007, 480 Mich ___ (2007), the application is 

again considered and, pursuant to MCR 7.302(G)(1), in lieu of granting leave to appeal, 

we REVERSE the judgment of the Court of Appeals because the court erred in invoking 
 _________________________________________ 

 

 

2 

the doctrine of equitable tolling under these circumstances. Devillers v Auto Club Ins 

Ass’n, 473 Mich 562, 586-587 n 65 (2005). However, because the plaintiff falls within 

the class of plaintiffs entitled to relief identified in our order in Mullins, supra, we 

REINSTATE the order of the Washtenaw Circuit Court denying the defendants’ motion 

for summary disposition and REMAND this case to that court for further proceedings not 

inconsistent with this order and the order in Mullins. 

The motion to consolidate is DENIED as moot. 

CAVANAGH and WEAVER, JJ., concur in the result. 

KELLY, J. concurs and states as follows: 

The issue in this case is whether our decision in Waltz v Wyse1

 bars plaintiff’s 

claim. The Court of Appeals invoked the doctrine of equitable tolling to find that 

plaintiff’s claim was not barred by Waltz.

2

 We affirm that decision, but for a different 

reason. Plaintiff is within the class of plaintiffs who are entitled to relief under our 

unanimous order in Mullins v St Joseph Mercy Hosp.3 For that reason, it is unnecessary 

for us invoke the doctrine of equitable tolling to find that plaintiff’s claim is not barred by 

Waltz. 

I write to point out that, given the state of the law when the Court of Appeals 

reached its decision, resort to the doctrine of equitable tolling was highly appropriate. As 

the Court of Appeals correctly recognized, the doctrine should be invoked “‘to ensure 

fundamental practicality and fairness and to prevent the unjust technical forfeiture of a 

cause of action.’”4

 The Court of Appeals persuasively concluded that circumstances 

justifying its application existed in this case. 

1 Waltz v Wyse, 469 Mich 642 (2004). 

2 Mazumder v University of Michigan Bd of Regents, 270 Mich App 42, 62 (2006) 

(citations omitted). 

3

 480 Mich ___ (2007). 

4 Mazumder, 270 Mich App at 61 (citations omitted). 

l0129 

I, Corbin R. Davis, Clerk of the Michigan Supreme Court, certify that the 

foregoing is a true and complete copy of the order entered at the direction of the Court. 

February 1, 2008 

Clerk