Case Name: KIK v. SBRACCIA
Court: Michigan Court of Appeals
Jurisdiction: Michigan
Decision Date: 2006-10-10
Citations: 272 Mich. App. 388
Docket Number: Docket No. 256419
Parties: KIK v SBRACCIA
Judges: Before: WILDER, EJ., and CAVANAGH, SMOLENSKI, Zahra, Fort Hood, Schuette, and Borrello, JJ.
Reporter: Michigan appeals reports; cases decided in the Michigan Court of Appeals.
Volume: 272
Pages: 388–393

Head Matter:
KIK v SBRACCIA
Docket No. 256419.
Submitted April 25, 2006, at Lansing.
Decided October 10, 2006, at 9:05 a.m.
Leave to appeal sought.
Rebecca and Robert Kik, individually and as personal corepresentatives of the estate of their deceased daughter, Sharon Kik, brought an action in the Chippewa Circuit Court against John-Christopher Sbraccia, Kinross Charter Township EMS, and Kinross Charter Township. A township ambulance driven by township EMS employee Sbraccia overturned while transporting Rebecca Kik, who was pregnant. Sharon Kik was born prematurely and died the same day. The plaintiffs sought damages, including damages for the loss of the society and companionship of their daughter and damages for Robert Kik’s loss of consortium with Rebecca Kik. The defendants moved for partial summary disposition, contending that the plaintiffs’ derivative claims for loss of consortium and the like were barred by governmental immunity. The court, Nicholas J. Lambros, J., denied the motion, and the defendants appealed. The Court of Appeals, O’Connell, EJ., and Sawyer and Murphy, JJ., affirmed with regard to all claims against Sbraccia and with regard to the plaintiffs’ claims for loss of society and companionship, given that the action was a wrongful death action. With regard to Robert Kik’s loss-of-consortium-type claims against the township and the township EMS, however, the panel reversed because it was required to follow the holding in Wesche v Mecosta Co Rd Comm, 267 Mich App 274 (2005), that damages for loss of consortium are not recoverable in an action brought under MCL 691.1405, the motor-vehicle exception to governmental immunity. The panel ordered the trial court to enter an order on remand granting summary disposition to the township and the township EMS on those claims. Had it not been obligated to follow Wesche, however, the panel would have concluded that MCL 691.1405 does not limit the right to recover damages for derivative claims, such as a claim for loss of consortium. 268 Mich App 690 (2005). The Court of Appeals convened a special panel to resolve the conflict between this case and Wesche and vacated part III of its prior opinion in this case. 268 Mich App 801 (2005).
After consideration by the special panel, the Court of Appeals held,-.
The prior panel reached the correct conclusion in this case. The reasoning and analysis in part III of the prior opinion in this case, which concluded that MCL 691.1405 does not limit the right to recover damages for loss-of-consortium-type claims arising from a bodily injury, is adopted and reinstated. Part III of the Wesche opinion is overruled.
Summary disposition order vacated and case remanded.
Wilder, EJ., dissenting, would instead adopt part III of the Wesche opinion and hold that MCL 691.1405 does not provide an exception to governmental immunity for loss-of-consortium claims. None of Robert Kik’s claims arises from his bodily injury or property damage, as required under a narrow construction of the statutory exception. Because they are instead derivative claims arising from Rebecca Kik’s injuries, the trial court erred by denying the township and the township EMS summary disposition on these claims.
Governmental Immunity — Motor Vehicle Exception — Loss of Consortium.
The motor vehicle exception to governmental immunity does not limit the right to recover damages for derivative claims, such as claims for loss of consortium, arising from a bodily injury (MCL 691.1405).
Petrucelli & Petrucelli, P.C. (by Jonny L. Waara), for the plaintiffs.
Smith Haughey Rice & Roegge (by William L. Henn and Mark P. Bickel) for the defendants.
Before: WILDER, EJ., and CAVANAGH, SMOLENSKI, Zahra, Fort Hood, Schuette, and Borrello, JJ.

Opinion:
BORRELLO, J.
This conflict panel was convened to resolve an inconsistency between the vacated portion of this Court's prior opinion in Kik v Sbraccia, 268 Mich App 690; 708 NW2d 766 (2005) (Kik I), vacated in part 268 Mich App 801 (2005), and this Court's earlier decision in Wesche v Mecosta Co Rd Comm, 267 Mich App 274; 705 NW2d 136 (2005). In accordance with MCR 7.215(J)(1), the panel in Kik I was required to follow the precedent of Wesche, which held that loss-of-consortium claims are not included in the motor-vehicle exception to governmental immunity found in MCL 691.1405 and that such claims were therefore barred by governmental immunity. Were it not for Wesche and MCR 7.215(J)(1), the panel in Kik I would have affirmed the decision of the lower court that damages for derivative claims were available in an action brought pursuant to the motor-vehicle exception, MCL 691.1405.
The conflict at issue involves whether damages for derivative claims such as loss of consortium are available in actions brought pursuant to the motor-vehicle exception. MCL 691.1405. In Wesche, a panel of this Court held that because loss-of-consortium claims do not encompass bodily injury or property damage, they are not included in the motor-vehicle exception to governmental immunity. Wesche, supra at 278-279. Therefore, this Court affirmed the trial court's ruling that the plaintiff wife's loss-of-consortium claim was barred by governmental immunity. Id. at 279-280. In Kik I, this Court held that the panel's decision in Wesche was inapplicable to wrongful death cases, Kik I, supra at 706-707, 712 n 42; therefore, Wesche did not apply to plaintiffs' claim for loss of society and companionship for the death of their daughter. However, the panel in Kik I concluded that the claim for loss of consortium brought by plaintiff husband against defendants Kinross Charter Township and Kinross Charter Township EMS (but not Sbraccia, the driver of the ambulance, individually), relating to the injuries suffered by plaintiff wife in the accident, did fall squarely within the scope of Wesche. Id. at 707. In Kik I, the panel opined "that Wesche was incorrectly decided" and stated that "were we not obligated by MCR 7.215(J) to follow Wesche, we would reach a different conclusion .Id. at 711. However, because it was constrained to do so by MCR 7.215(J), this Court followed Wesche and reversed the trial court's denial of summary disposition regarding plaintiff husband's claim for loss of consortium arising out of his wife's injuries and remanded the matter to the trial court for entry of summary disposition in favor of the township and the township's EMS on that claim. Id. at 711-712.
Following due consideration of the analyses of the competing viewpoints regarding this conflict issue in Wesche and Kik I, we resolve the conflict in accordance with the panel's opinion in Kik I. We are persuaded by the panel's reasoning in part III of the Kik I opinion and adopt its reasoning and analysis as our own. We therefore expressly adopt and reinstate part III of the panel's opinion in Kik I and overrule part III of the Wesche opinion.
We direct the trial court to vacate its order granting summary disposition in favor of the township and the township's EMS with respect to plaintiff husband's claim for loss of consortium arising from plaintiff wife's injuries.
Vacated and remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. We do not retain jurisdiction.
Cavanagh, Smolensk, and Fort Hood, JJ., concurred with Borrello, J.