590 N.W.2d 67
Nos. 110886, 111145.Supreme Court of Michigan.
February 25, 1999.
On order of the Court, the application for leave to appeal and the delayed application for leave to appeal are considered and, pursuant to MCR 7.302(F)(1), in lieu of granting leave to appeal, we VACATE the judgment of the Court of Appeals and REMAND this case to the Court of Appeals for consideration of the issues raised by the plaintiff as appellant in that court.
In 1993, the worker’s compensation magistrate ruled that the city of Detroit “shall not coordinate the duty disability pension being received by plaintiff pursuant to MCL 418.354(14) [MSA 17.237(354)(14)].” The statutory subsection, MCL 418.354(1); MSA 17.237(354)(1), describes circumstances under which “the employer’s obligation to pay or cause to be paid weekly [worker’s compensation] benefits . . . shall be reduced. . . .” The subsection, MCL 418.354(14); MSA 17.237(354)(14), says that certain disability pension benefits “shall not be coordinated pursuant to this section.” It is undisputed that the plaintiff’s worker’s compensation benefits were never reduced (except to repay an unrelated advance in his benefits). Instead, the defendants reduced disability benefits, in apparent reliance on terms of the city charter, city ordinances, or the collective bargaining agreement. Whether reduction of those
benefits was appropriate is not a question that is controlled by the magistrate’s statement that the worker’s compensation benefits were not to be reduced.
We do not retain jurisdiction.