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Sington v. Chrysler Corp.7/31/2002
stroke was not work related, he is not entitled to benefits under § 301(5).
II.
We review questions of law in final orders from the WCAC de novo. DiBenedetto v West Shore Hosp, 461 Mich 394, 401; 605 NW2d 300 (2000).
III.
A.
We begin our analysis with the definition of "disability" in the WDCA:
As used in this chapter, "disability" means a limitation of an employee's wage earning capacity in work suitable to his or her qualifications and training resulting from a personal injury or work related disease. The establishment of disability does not create a presumption of wage loss. [MCL 418.301(4).]
As this language plainly expresses, a "disability" is, in relevant part, a limitation in "wage earning capacity" in work suitable to an employee's qualifications and training. The pertinent definition of "capacity" in a common dictionary is "maximum output or producing ability." Webster's New World Dictionary (3d College ed). Accordingly, the plain language of MCL 418.301(4) indicates that a person suffers a disability if an injury covered under the WDCA results in a reduction of that person's maximum reasonable wage earning ability in work suitable to that person's qualifications and training.
So understood, a condition that rendered an employee unable to perform a job paying the maximum salary, given the employee's qualifications and training, but leaving the employee free to perform an equally well-paying position suitable to his qualifications and training would not constitute a disability.
Our analysis in this regard is consistent with the following conclusion of this Court in Rea v Regency Olds/Mazda/Volvo, 450 Mich 1201; 536 NW2d 542 (1995):
A majority of the Court is of the opinion that the 1987 definition of disability in the Worker's Disability Compensation Act requires a claimant to demonstrate how a physical limitation affects wage-earning capacity in work suitable to the claimant's qualifications and training. It is not enough for the claimant claiming partial disability to show an inability to return to the same or similar work. If the claimant's physical limitation does not affect the ability to earn wages in work in which the claimant is qualified and trained, the claimant is not disabled.
The Rea formulation implicitly drew upon an earlier articulation on this topic in Pulley v Detroit Engineering & Machine Co, 378 Mich 418, 423; 145 NW2d 40 (1966), in which this Court stated:
he method of determining the employee's earning capacity, as that term is used in the act, is a complex of fact issues which are concerned with the nature of the work performed and the continuing availability of work of that kind, and the nature and extent of the disability and the wages earned.
While we recognize that Pulley was decided before the adoption of the current definition of "disability" in § 301(4) and, thus, some particulars of that opinion may not be controlling with regard to the current statutory scheme, we believe that this language is instructive in indicating that worker's compensation magistrates and the WCAC may have to consider various factual matters in determining whether an employee is disabled. Such matters could include the particular work that an employee is both trained and qualified to perform, whether there continues to be a substantial job market for such work, and the wages typically earned for such employment in comparison to the employee's wage at the time of the work-related injury. If the employee is no longer able to perform any of the jobs that pay the maximum wages, given the employee's training and qualifications,
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