Hurt on job in another state may still be MI worker compensation

Noting that the decisions of the magistrate and the WCAC were based on "the now-erroneous finding that the agency lacked jurisdiction over injuries that took place in Georgia," the court concluded that a remand was warranted to allow the magistrate and WCAC to decide the case under the appropriate legal standard. Thus, the court reversed the WCAC's decision affirming the magistrate's denial of disability benefits and remanded the case for further proceedings. Plaintiff began working for defendant-GM in Michigan in 1977. He experienced pain and numbness in his fingers and palms, received treatment, and worked with restrictions to his upper extremities. He transferred to Georgia in 1997, and his symptoms continued. He had carpal tunnel surgeries in 1999 and 2000. After the surgeries, no jobs with GM were available within his restrictions. Plaintiff received a disability pension, and benefits through Georgia's worker's compensation system. He sought worker's compensation benefits in Michigan, asserting he was disabled by carpal tunnel syndrome, with injury dates of 10/18/95 and 11/30/97. The magistrate found that plaintiff failed to show he was entitled to benefits. The magistrate noted that plaintiff moved to Georgia and established residency there in 1997. "He worked for a year and a half, and aggravated his pre-existing condition. Under MCL 418.301, the date of injury for a condition not caused by a single event is the last day in which the employee was subjected to the condition that resulted in the disability." Thus, the magistrate found that plaintiff did not establish that Michigan had jurisdiction to award benefits since the last day he was subjected to the condition occurred in Georgia. "The magistrate concluded that MCL 418.845 governed jurisdiction for out-of-state injuries," and for plaintiff to receive benefits in Michigan he had to show that he was a Michigan resident. Plaintiff admitted that he was a Georgia resident on the date that he was last subjected to the conditions that led to his disability. He appealed to the WCAC, which concluded that the magistrate did not have jurisdiction to apply § 301(1) to determine whether plaintiff suffered an injury or aggravation in Georgia. The WCAC remanded the case. On remand, the magistrate found that while plaintiff established his carpal tunnel syndrome existed on 10/18/95, he did not show that he had lost wage earning capacity except between 1/23/95 and 4/3/95, when he refused restricted work. The case returned to the WCAC, which affirmed the magistrate, but not for the reasons the magistrate stated. The court held that a factual error and a change in the law required reversal. "In its remand order to the magistrate, the WCAC erred in precluding the magistrate from considering the November 1997 injury date that Coleman pleaded. And the change in case law regarding out of state injuries exacerbates this error." Plaintiff's injury "took place well before Karaczewski was decided." In Bezeau, the Michigan Supreme Court reversed the part of Karaczewski that gave the decision retroactive effect.