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No. 127834
| Michigan Tooling Association Workers |
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James N. McNally |
Compensation Fund, as Subrogee of Distel |
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Tool & Machine Company, |
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Plaintiff-Appellee, |
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| vs (Oakland - O'Brien, C.) |
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| Farmington Insurance Agency, LLC, |
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Michelle A. Thomas |
Defendant/Third-Party Plaintiff-Appellant, |
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| and |
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| Machinery Maintenance Specialists, Inc., |
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Defendant, |
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| and |
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| Employers Insurance of Wausau and |
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Larry W. Davidson |
| Wausau Insurance Companies, |
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Third-Party Defendants-Appellees. |
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| _____________________________________ |
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Click to view briefs in Adobe format:
Plaintiff-Appellee's Brief in Opposition to Leave to Appeal>>
Plaintiff-Appellee's Supplemental Brief>>
Defendant/Third-Party Plaintiff-Appellant's Application for Leave to Appeal>>
Defendant/Third-Party Plaintiff-Appellant's Supplemental Brief>>
Defendant/Third-Party Plaintiff-Appellant's Supplemental Authorities>>
Third-Party Defendants-Appellees' Brief on Appeal>>
Background
Machinery Maintenance Specialists, Inc. (MMS) used Farmington Insurance Agency, L.L.C. to obtain a worker's compensation insurance policy from Employers Insurance of Wausau/Wausau Insurance Companies. MMS subsequently asked Farmington Insurance to issue a certificate of insurance that MMS intended to present to one of its customers, David Friedman, Inc., to reassure the customer that MMS had worker's compensation insurance. Farmington Insurance issued the certificate, not knowing that Wausau had canceled the worker's compensation insurance policy due to MMS's failure to make premium payments. The certificate of insurance addressed to David Friedman, Inc. was then provided to another MMS customer, Distel Tool & Machine Company. The job performed for David Friedman, Inc. was completed without incident, but one of MMS's employees was injured while working at Distel. Since MMS did not have worker's compensation insurance, Distel became liable for paying worker's compensation benefits to the injured employee. Those benefits were paid by Distel's worker's compensation insurer, Michigan Tooling Association Workers Compensation Fund. Michigan Tooling then sued MMS and Farmington Insurance, seeking reimbursement for the costs it incurred as a result of the injuries to MMS's employee. Farmington Insurance filed a third-party complaint against Wausau . Following a bench trial, the trial court entered a judgment in favor of Michigan Tooling against MMS in the amount of $130,000; the court also awarded Michigan Tooling $135,502.85 against Farmington Insurance, plus $35,825.00 in attorney fees and $3,225.00 in expert witness costs. The trial court entered a judgment of no cause of action in favor of Wausau on Farmington Insurance's third-party claim. The Court of Appeals affirmed in an unpublished per curiam opinion. Farmington Insurance appeals.
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