A recent ruling by the Michigan Supreme Court has ruled that each criterion of the Michigan workers compensation statue must be met for a worker to be deemed an employee and that a failure to meet any one of them would indicates the worker is a sub contractor. This ruling came from a case in Macomb County in which an employee was using a a company vehicle while on the job and was injured by the vehicle. The employee preferred to sue for auto no fault benefits his injury rather than file for workers compensation benefits. Likely this is because the PIP benefits would offer him 5 additional percent in wage benefits than his workers compensation benefits.
Crain’s Detroit Business reports:
“Injured workers in Michigan are employees of a company, rather than independent contractors, only if they meet three criteria under Michigan’s workers compensation law, the Michigan Supreme Court has ruled.
The ruling last week stemmed from a lawsuit brought by Joseph Derry, who was injured while vacuuming leaves for Sterling Heights-based All Star Lawn Specialists Plus Inc., court records show.
All Star had commercial general liability insurance, commercial no-fault automobile insurance and workers comp insurance”
The full story can be found here.
Sherlock Investigations serves both workers compensation and Michigan auto no fault carriers providing a variety of investigative services, including Michigan PIP claims investigations, to assist claims professional in making informed claims decisions.