Court Opinion

ID: 9670881
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 03:27:41.370843+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:16:07.014300
License: Public Domain

M. J. Kelly, P.J.
(concurring in part and dissenting in part). I agree that the appropriate inquiry in determining whether survivor’s benefits should be awarded under MCL 500.3108; MSA 24.13108 is whether the dependent would have received the support from the decedent if the decedent had not suffered the fatal injury. I cannot, however, agree that the trial court in this case clearly erred in finding that Steven Gobler would have been employed by the U. S. Forestry Service if he had survived the accident. The majority’s opinion conveys the impression that the trial court’s finding was based solely on plaintiff’s receipt of the Inquiry of Availability, which admittedly was not an offer of employment. However, I believe that the trial court considered the Inquiry of Availability in conjunction with the testimony of Shelagh Reed. I am thus not left with a firm and definite belief that a mistake has been committed by the trial court in finding that Steven Gobler would have been employed by the U. S. Forestry Service at the salary and benefit level and as of the commencement date testified to by Reed. Precopio v Detroit, 415 Mich 457, 462; 330 NW2d 802 (1982); Tuttle v Dep’t of State Highways, 397 Mich 44, 46; 243 NW2d 244 (1976). I would affirm.