Jerome Plunkett, as Personal Representative of the Estate of Holly Marie Plunkett v. Department of Transportation

Summary

The Michigan Supreme Court denied leave to appeal in a wrongful-death action alleging that roadway rutting and defective repairs caused rainwater to accumulate and led to a fatal hydroplaning accident. A concurrence supported the denial under the natural-accumulation doctrine, while a dissent argued that the alleged roadway defects and unnatural water accumulation could support liability under the highway exception to governmental immunity.

Holdings

1. The Michigan Supreme Court denied the application for leave to appeal because it was not persuaded that the questions presented should be reviewed by the Court.
2. Justice Markman's concurrence concluded that the roadbed ruts were not a proximate cause of the accident because the evidence showed that they caused the accumulation of rainwater, while the water itself caused the hydroplaning; the concurrence analogized the situation to Haliw and Hopson.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the Michigan Supreme Court should grant leave to appeal from the Court of Appeals judgment granting MDOT summary disposition on governmental-immunity grounds.
2. Whether alleged rutting and defective repairs that caused rainwater to accumulate on a highway could constitute a highway defect and a proximate cause of injury under MCL 691.1402(1), rather than merely causing a nonactionable natural accumulation.
3. Whether plaintiff's allegations concerned an actionable failure to maintain or repair the highway or an excluded design defect.

Disposition

writ_denied