Thomas LaMeau, Personal Representative of Brian K. Zahra, the Estate of John M. Crnkovich, Deceased v. City of Royal Oak, Elden Danielson, Bryan Warju, Detroit Edison Company, and Gaglio PR Cement Corporation

Summary

The Michigan Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals and remanded for summary disposition in favor of the public defendants in a wrongful-death action arising from a utility wire embedded in a Royal Oak sidewalk. The majority adopted the reasoning of the Court of Appeals dissent, while Justice Marilyn Kelly argued that the sidewalk fell within the highway exception to governmental immunity and that factual questions remained regarding the municipality's duty and the individual defendants' gross negligence.

Holdings

1. The Michigan Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals judgment and remanded for entry of an order granting summary disposition to the public defendants, adopting the reasoning of the Court of Appeals dissent.
2. The dissent would have held that summary disposition was improper because a reasonable jury could find that Danielson and Warju acted with gross negligence; this reasoning was not the majority holding because the majority reversed and adopted the contrary Court of Appeals dissent.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the sidewalk qualified as a highway within Michigan's highway exception to governmental immunity despite the presence or intended use of barricades.
2. Whether the utility wire and anchor embedded in the sidewalk constituted a sidewalk defect rather than an excluded utility pole or appendage.
3. Whether the city was entitled to summary disposition under governmental-immunity provisions.
4. Whether city employees Elden Danielson and Bryan Warju were entitled to governmental immunity because their conduct could not constitute gross negligence or proximate cause as a matter of law.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded