Are the Scales Finally Tipping in Favor of Justice for Michigan Citizens?
Two recent 4-3 opinions would suggest that the recent election of Diane Marie Hathaway to the Michigan Supreme Court is paying dividends to the cause of justice in Michigan. In one case, he Detroit News is reporting that the high court has ruled that a dead mother’s family can sue a hospital and doctors for $1.4 million in damages for loss of household services. Housework, cooking, caring for children, trash removal, etc. would qualify for damages under the ruling. Attorneys for Monroe, Michigan’s Mercy Memorial Hospital unsuccessfully argued at both the Court of Appeals level and the before the Supreme Court that “household services” are part of a non-economic recovery, thus lumped into legislatively capped, non-economic (as part of the ‘pain and suffering’ recovery) damages. Both courts said “no”, that household services are economic damages, thus not subject to the cap. The “cap”, by the way, is part of legislative tort reform passed by conservatives during the John Engler administr
