Court Opinion

ID: 9736635
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 19:01:33.266654+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:27:07.790081
License: Public Domain

V. J. Brennan, J.
(dissenting). The majority acknowledges that the bureau does not have exclusive jursidiction where it is obvious that the cause of action is not based upon the employer/employee relationship. Under those circumstances, the circuit court has jurisdiction to determine the rights and liabilities of the parties. The circuit court had jurisdiction in this case because the physical examination occurred prior to plaintiffs employment. The alleged injury, that is the failure to discover or report the condition indicated on the X-ray, did not occur in the course of employment and, therefore, was not based upon an employer/employee relationship.
2 A Larson, Workmen’s Compensation Law, § 68.35, pp 13-39, states:
"When the employer’s fault takes the form of negligence in not disclosing to the employee the existence of a noncompensable disease discovered in the course of an examination in the company clinic, most cases allow a tort action on the theory that the injury is in no sense work-connected.”
The rule is even more compelling in this case because the plaintiff was not yet an employee. I would find that the circuit court correctly denied Great Lakes Steel Corporation’s motion for summary judgment.