Court Opinion

ID: 9725614
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 11:56:04.607393+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:25:17.087639
License: Public Domain

Murphy, J.
(dissenting). I respectfully dissent.
Defendant Houston will not have priority, and plaintiff USAA will be primarily liable, if Donna Miller was injured while she was a passenger in a bus “providing service to a nonprofit organization.” See MCL 500.3114(2)(d); MSA 24.13114(2)(d).
When construing statutory language, first and foremost, we must give effect to the Legislature’s intent. Reardon v Dep’t of Mental Health, 430 Mich 398, 407; 424 NW2d 248 (1988) . If the language of the statute is clear and unambiguous, the plain meaning of the statute reflects the legislative intent and judicial construction is not permitted. Tryc v Michigan Veterans’ *394Facility, 451 Mich 129, 136; 545 NW2d 642 (1996). In such cases, we must simply apply the statute as written. Turner v Auto Club Ins Ass’n, 448 Mich 22, 27; 528 NW2d 681 (1995).
In my opinion, the language of MCL 500.3114(2)(d); MSA 24.13114(2)(d) is clear and unambiguous and therefore must be applied as written. In plain, simple terms, a “nonprofit organization” is an organization that does not, and is not intended to, produce a profit. In this case, there was evidence that Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport is not operated for the purpose of producing a profit and that no surplus of funds from the airport is ever distributed as profit. Therefore, in my opinion, the Wayne County Metropolitan Airport Authority is a nonprofit organization, and Donna Miller was injured in a bus that provides service to that nonprofit organization.
The majority concludes that because the airport is government-related, it was not intended to be covered by the statute. However, because the language of the statute is clear and unambiguous, this Court must not, as the majority does, delve into the legislative history, in an attempt to ascertain the reason for the act and the meaning of its provisions. We must ascertain the legislative intent from the plain language of the statute, and that language indicates an intent on the Legislature’s part not to hold the insurer of a bus primarily responsible for injuries to passengers in the bus if that bus provides a service to a nonprofit organization. The Wayne County Metropolitan Airport Authority is a nonprofit organization, and I see nothing in the language of the statute to give me reason to believe that a nonprofit organization, which happens to be government-related, should not be included in *395the term “nonprofit organization.” Any other result is the product of unnecessary and inappropriate judicial construction in the face of clear, statutory language.
I would reverse the trial court’s grant of summary disposition for plaintiff and remand to the trial court for entry of judgment for defendant Houston.