Speaker Law
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Labels: appeal, CAM, case evaluation, construction, discovery, discovery order, discovery sanctions, Michigan, Michigan Appeal, Michigan Appeals, Van Buren County

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The Court of Appeals issued a published opinion addressing application of federal law (HIPAA) and state law of physician-patient privilege to discovery requests for non-party patient information. In Steiner v Bonanni, the plaintiff alleged that the defendant breached an employment contract by essentially stealing clients from plaintiff. To prove his case, the plaintiff requested discovery of defendant's current patient list. The defendant objected, claiming the list was covered under HIPAA and also protected by the physician-patient privilege. On appeal, the COA reasoned that Michigan Law is more protective of patients' privacy rights than HIPAA and, therfore, under HIPAA state law applies to discovery requests involving non-party patient information. Specifically, the COA noted that HIPAA allows disclosure of patient information upon notification to the patient, whereas, Michigan law precludes disclosure without actual patient consent. Consequently, the trial court did not abuse its discretion when it denied plaintiff's discovery request. In this case the COA issued a prescription for patient privacy.

Labels: breach, discovery, employement, HIPAA, litigation, livingston county, Michigan, patient information, privilege

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In a travesty of justice, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled on July 25 that the discovery rule is no longer applicable to wrongful death actions--even if it was impossible to bring the suit within three years of the death. The Court reversed decades of precedent in Trentadue v Gorton, a case that arose from the tragic and brutal murder/rape of a woman in Flint in 1986. The killer was able to evade authorities until 2002, when DNA evidence finally linked him to the crime.

Within 6 months of learning the identity of the killer (he worked for a lawn sprinkler company that was servicing the property on which the victim lived), the victim's daughter filed a wrongful death action against the lawn sprinkler company and her former landlord [note: The sprinkler company was owned by the murderer's parents and they knew he had been convicted of assaulting women. The victim had also asked her landlord to provide better security on the premises where she lived]. Even though there was no way for the victim's daughter to know who her mother's killer was until the police connected the DNA evidence to the murderer in 2002, according to the Supreme Court, she is barred from bringing an action by the statute of limitations.

Labels: discovery, DNA, Flint, Michigan, Wrongful Death

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The Court of Appeals recently decided a case that I had been following since it hit the local news stations after two young girls were hit by a drunk driver after they walked onto Saginaw Street because the sidewalk was impassable due to snow and ice in Estate of Buckner. The only issues on appeal involved the case against the City of Lansing (the trial court denied summary disposition). The COA held that an unnatural accumulation of snow and ice could fall under the highway exception to governmental immunity. The Court noted that more discovery was needed to determine whether, under the facts of this case, the City is entitled to immunity.

Labels: discovery, governmental immunity, Ingham County, Michigan, Sidewalk Conditions

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