Sokolek v. General Motors Corp., 206 Mich. App. 31

Summary

The Michigan Court of Appeals considered whether the one-year-back rule for nursing or attendant care applies to a worker's compensation case where the original injury occurred before the effective date of the statute. The court held that the statute in effect at the time the claim for nursing benefits accrued applies, and therefore the one-year-back rule does not limit the award of nursing care benefits. The court affirmed the Worker's Compensation Appeal Board's decision, which had found that the plaintiff's husband provided reasonable and necessary home nursing care for her since 1981.

Holdings

1. The statute in effect when Sokolek's claim for nursing benefits accrued controlled. Because the claim accrued in 1981, before MCL 418.381(3) was enacted, the one-year-back limitation did not apply.
2. The argument that MCL 418.381(3) should be applied retroactively because it was remedial was not preserved because General Motors did not raise it before either the Court of Appeals or the WCAB; the issue was therefore waived.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the one-year-back limitation for nursing or attendant-care payments in MCL 418.381(3) applied to a claim arising from a 1980 injury when the petition for nursing-care benefits was filed after the statute's July 30, 1985 effective date.
2. Whether the argument that MCL 418.381(3) should apply retroactively as remedial legislation was preserved for appellate review.

Disposition

affirmed