Order Michigan Supreme Court
Lansing, Michigan
September 20, 2006 Clifford W. Taylor,
Chief Justice
131133 Michael F. Cavanagh
Elizabeth A. Weaver
Marilyn Kelly
LAURA A. SAHR, Maura D. Corrigan
Plaintiff-Appellee, Robert P. Young, Jr.
Stephen J. Markman,
Justices
v SC: 131133
COA: 262952
WCAC: 02-000497
WAL-MART STORES, INC.,
Defendant-Appellant,
and
INSURANCE COMPANY OF THE STATE OF
PENNSYLVANIA,
Defendant.
_________________________________________/
On order of the Court, the application for leave to appeal the March 28, 2006
judgment of the Court of Appeals is considered and, pursuant to MCR 7.302(G)(1), in
lieu of granting leave to appeal, we REVERSE the judgment of the Court of Appeals and
REINSTATE the decision of the magistrate. The Court of Appeals erred by finding that
the Workers’ Compensation Appellate Commission (WCAC) had offered adequate
reasons for rejecting the magistrate’s reliance on and interpretation of the testimony of
plaintiff’s treating neurosurgeon. Mudel v Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co, 462 Mich
691, 703 (2000). The WCAC rejected all of the reasons provided by the magistrate for
finding that plaintiff had failed to meet her burden of proving workplace causation for her
back complaints because the treating doctor did not directly relate plaintiff’s disability to
her smoking. Because the magistrate did not base her decision on any such alleged
opinion by the treating doctor, the WCAC did not provide an adequate reason for
rejecting the magistrate’s comprehensive findings as unsupported by competent, material
and substantial evidence.
CAVANAGH, J., would deny leave to appeal.
KELLY, J., not participating.
I, Corbin R. Davis, 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.
September 20, 2006 _________________________________________
t0913 Clerk