Mich. Gov Drops New WC Appeals Panel Idea

Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, a Democrat, dropped a plan to form a new workers’ compensation appeals commission after heated complaints from the state’s business community that the panel would be tilted toward labor interests.

According to Crain’s Detroit Business, Granholm had proposed replacing Michigan’s seven-member appellate commission with two-member appeals panels comprised of one magistrate each to represent the interests of employers and laborers, with any ties to be decided by a magistrate to be appointed by the governor.

Business groups said the new system, submitted as part of an earlier executive order creating a Department of Labor and Economic Growth, would create more appeals, clog Michigan’s court system and make the state less attractive to new businesses.

Topics Michigan