Joseph S Bell v. City of Saginaw ( 2019 )

Order Michigan Supreme Court
Lansing, Michigan
November 20, 2019 Bridget M. McCormack,
Chief Justice
159813 David F. Viviano,
Chief Justice Pro Tem
Stephen J. Markman
Brian K. Zahra
JOSEPH S. BELL, Richard H. Bernstein
Plaintiff-Appellant, Elizabeth T. Clement
Megan K. Cavanagh,
Justices
v SC: 159813
COA: 341858
MCAC: 14-000081
CITY OF SAGINAW,
Defendant-Appellee.
_________________________________________/
On order of the Court, the application for leave to appeal the May 21, 2019
judgment of the Court of Appeals is considered. Pursuant to MCR 7.305(H)(1), in lieu of
granting leave to appeal, we REMAND this case to the Workers’ Compensation Board of
Magistrates for further consideration. The magistrate concluded that, although the
plaintiff had suffered a work-related injury, a determination of his residual wage-earning
capacity in 2012 and in 2014 was moot because he had failed to make a good-faith effort
to look for work within his qualifications and training in those years. However, the
magistrate failed to address “what jobs, if any, [the plaintiff] is qualified and trained to
perform within the same salary range as his maximum earning capacity at the time of the
injury.” See Stokes v Chrysler, LLC, 481 Mich. 266, 282 (2008) (emphasis added). On
remand, the magistrate shall make findings regarding this component of a prima facie
case of disability. On the basis of those findings, the magistrate shall then make findings
as to whether the plaintiff successfully bore his burden of proving the remaining
components of a prima facie case of disability, specifically, “that his work-related injury
prevents him from performing some or all of the jobs identified as within his
qualifications and training that pay his maximum wages” and that “if the [plaintiff] is
capable of performing any of the jobs identified . . . that he cannot obtain any of these
jobs.” Id. at 283; see also id. (stating that “[t]he claimant must make a good-faith attempt
to procure post-injury employment if there are jobs at the same salary or higher that he
is qualified and trained to perform and the claimant’s work-related injury does not
preclude performance”) (emphasis added).
I, Larry S. Royster, Clerk of the Michigan Supreme Court, certify that the
foregoing is a true and complete copy of the order entered at the direction of the Court.
November 20, 2019
p1113
Clerk