Opinion ID: 848615
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Worker's Disability Compensation Act

Text: The predecessor to the WDCA, known as the Workmen's Compensation Act, was enacted in 1912 during a special legislative session. Cain, supra at 247-248, 697 N.W.2d 130. [12] The worker's compensation system assures employees that they will receive compensation for employment-related injuries, without regard to fault, through worker's compensation benefits. In exchange for this almost automatic liability, employees are limited in the amount of compensation they may collect from their employer, and, except in limited circumstances, may not bring a tort action against the employer. Clark v. United Technologies Automotive, Inc., 459 Mich. 681, 687, 594 N.W.2d 447 (1999); MCL 418.131(1). Worker's compensation is thus an injured worker's exclusive remedy for a qualifying work-related injury. Id. MCL 418.301(1) of the WDCA provides, in relevant part: An employee, who receives a personal injury arising out of and in the course of employment by an employer who is subject to this act at the time of the injury, shall be paid compensation as provided in this act. Thus, worker's compensation benefits are available under the WDCA when (1) an employment relationship exists, and (2) a personal injury arose out of, and in the course of, that employment. The term employee for WDCA purposes is defined in MCL 418.161(1). That section controls employment status determinations regarding government workers (§ 161[1][a]), foreign nationals (§ 161[1][b]), public safety personnel (§§ 161[1][c] and [f]), volunteer fire fighters (§§ 161[1][d] and [e]), volunteer civil defense workers (§ 161[1][g]), public health volunteers (§§ 161[1][h] and [i]), emergency rescue workers (§ 161[1][j]), peace officers (§ 161[1][k]), workers under contract (§ 161[1][ 1 ]), trainee program participants (§ 161[1][m]), and even independent contractors (§ 161[1][n]). [13] The only apparent exception that confers jurisdiction on the circuit court is found in MCL 418.131(1): The right to the recovery of benefits as provided in this act shall be the employee's exclusive remedy against the employer for a personal injury or occupational disease. The only exception to this exclusive remedy is an intentional tort. An intentional tort shall exist only when an employee is injured as a result of a deliberate act of the employer and the employer specifically intended an injury. Here, plaintiff has not presented an intentional tort claim. The fundamental question presented here is whether the circuit court has jurisdiction over a case after a party has raised the question whether the claim sounds in worker's compensation rather than tort.