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Dibenedetto v. West Shore Hospital2/9/2000
Chief Justice Elizabeth A. Weaver
BEFORE THE ENTIRE BENCH
In this case, we must decide whether the Worker 's Compensation Appellate Commission (WCAC) properly analyzed two statutory provisions of the Worker 's Disability Compensation Act (WDCA), MCL 418.101 et seq.; MSA 17.237(101) et seq. The first provision allows an injured employee the opportunity to request an increased benefit rate after two years of continuous disability if the employee's earnings would have been expected to increase because of certain enumerated factors. MCL 418.356(1); MSA 17.237(356)(1). The second provision requires termination of an injured employee's wage loss benefits when the employee's average weekly wage (AWW) from subsequent employment exceeds the AWW the employee received before the date of injury. MCL 418.301(5)(c); MSA 17.237(301)(5)(c).
The question this Court must resolve is whether subsection 301(5)(c) permits the worker 's compensation magistrate to compare an injured employee's AWW from subsequent employment to the AWW imputed to the injured employee under subsection 356(1) more than two years after the date of injury. This question is clearly resolved by the plain language of subsection 301(5)(c), which requires the magistrate to compare the "average weekly wage of the employee" from subsequent employment with the "average weekly wage the employee received before the date of injury." MCL 418.301(5)(c); MSA 17.237(301)(5)(c) (emphasis added). The language "before the date of injury" precludes comparison between an injured employee's AWW from subsequent employment and the AWW imputed to the employee under subsection 356(1) more than two years after the date of the injury. We therefore reverse the decision of the Court of Appeals and reinstate the order of the WCAC.
On August 26, 1986, plaintiff Margaret DiBenedetto was injured in the course of her part-time employment as a licensed practical nurse at West Shore Hospital. Plaintiff's employer voluntarily paid her worker 's compensation benefits at a rate of $108.12 a week. On May 17, 1989, more than two years after her injury, plaintiff requested an increased benefit rate under subsection 356(1) of the WDCA. MCL 418.356(1); MSA 17.237(356)(1) provides, in pertinent part:
An injured employee who, at the time of the personal injury , is entitled to a rate of compensation less than 50% of the then applicable state average weekly wage as determined for the year in which the injury occurred pursuant to section 355, may be entitled to an increase in benefits after 2 years of continuous disability. After 2 years of continuous disability, the employee may petition for a hearing at which the employee may present evidence, that by virtue of the employee's age, education, training, experience, or other documented evidence which would fairly reflect the employee's earning capacity, the employee's earnings would have been expected to increase. Upon presentation of this evidence, a worker 's compensation magistrate may order an adjustment of the compensation rate up to 50% of the state average weekly wage for the year in which the employee's injury occurred. The adjustment of compensation, if ordered, shall be effective as of the date of the employee's petition for the hearing. . . . There shall be only 1 adjustment made for an employee under this subsection.
The worker's compensation magistrate determined that plaintiff was totally disabled as a result of her work-related injuries and was therefore entitled to benefits. The AWW plaintiff received from her employment in 1986, before the date of her injury, was $141.61. The magistrate determined that plaintiff's AWW would have been expected to increase from $14
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