P.J. In 1993, plaintiffs initiated this lawsuit in the Court of Claims, claiming, inter alia, that as pre-1990 policyholders in the state's Accident Fund, they and other similarly situated policyholders had a right to receive the surplus monies the fund had allegedly accumulated.
Plaintiffs appeal as of right.
In 1912, the Legislature created the Accident Fund to provide for worker's compensation and employer's liability insurance. Thereafter, by public act in 1993, the Legislature authorized the outright sale of the Accident Fund to private interests. The actual sale of the Accident Fund was consummated in December 1994, and 712 was thereby repealed as of that date. Plaintiffs never received a dividend from the escrow account. However, plaintiffs did not raise this specific argument in the trial court and, instead, based their statutory promise claim solely on the operation of 712.