Syrja Lekli v. Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company of Michigan

CourtMichigan Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 20, 2021
Docket350942
StatusUnpublished

This text of Syrja Lekli v. Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company of Michigan (Syrja Lekli v. Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company of Michigan) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Michigan Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Syrja Lekli v. Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company of Michigan, (Mich. Ct. App. 2021).

Opinion

If this opinion indicates that it is “FOR PUBLICATION,” it is subject to revision until final publication in the Michigan Appeals Reports.

STATE OF MICHIGAN

COURT OF APPEALS

SYRJA LEKLI, UNPUBLISHED May 20, 2021 Plaintiff-Appellant,

v No. 350942 Macomb Circuit Court FARM BUREAU MUTUAL INSURANCE LC No. 2017-004762-NF COMPANY OF MICHIGAN, FARM BUREAU GENERAL INSURANCE COMPANY, GREAT AMERICAN INSURANCE COMPANY, PERGJONI TRANSPORT, LLC, MICHIGAN AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE PLACEMENT FACILITY,

Defendants-Appellees,

and

B&W CARTAGE COMPANY, INC.,

Defendant.

Before: K. F. KELLY, P.J., and SERVITTO and LETICA, JJ.

PER CURIAM.

Plaintiff appeals as of right the trial court’s final order dismissing defendant Pergjoni Transport, LLC, (Pergjoni Transport), from the case. However, this appeal challenges the trial court’s underlying orders granting summary disposition in favor of defendants Great American Assurance Company,1 Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company of Michigan, Farm Bureau

1 Great American’s name was incorrectly captioned in plaintiff’s complaint as Great American Insurance Company and remained that way in all the subsequent captions.

-1- General Insurance Company of Michigan,2 B&W Cartage Company, Inc., (B&W), and the Michigan Automobile Insurance Placement Facility (MAIPF). Finding no errors warranting reversal, we affirm.

I. BASIC FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

In July 2015, B&W and Pergjoni Transport entered into an operating agreement. In that agreement, Pergjoni Transport, owner of a Peterbilt truck, leased the truck to B&W. Pergjoni Transport also agreed to supply transportation services to B&W. The agreement specified that Pergjoni Transport is an independent contractor of B&W. Under the terms of the agreement, Pergjoni Transport was required to maintain insurance on the truck, which it did. Pergjoni Transport had two policies for the truck that were in effect on the date of plaintiff’s accident, December 11, 2016. One policy was issued by Great American, and the other was issued by nonparty Hudson Insurance Company.

In January 2016, plaintiff filled out an application to B&W to be a driver for Pergjoni Transport. Plaintiff got the job and signed forms acknowledging that he was an independent contractor with respect to B&W. Plaintiff started working in February 2016. Plaintiff’s routine was to drive his own vehicle to where the Peterbilt truck was parked in Taylor, Michigan, and then drive that truck to Saline, Michigan, where he would generally pick up a trailer full of auto parts. Plaintiff would then drive the fully loaded truck to a plant in Missouri. Afterward, plaintiff would take an empty trailer back to Saline and then would park the truck in Taylor until the next trip. Plaintiff kept the keys to the truck, even while it remained parked in Taylor. Plaintiff testified that he generally drove this route two times a week and was paid $550 for each trip, or $1,100 for a week. Plaintiff was paid directly by Alfred Pergjoni,3 and plaintiff was issued an IRS 1099-MISC form at the end of the year. Plaintiff referred to Mr. Pergjoni as his “boss” or “supervisor” several times during his deposition, and referred to Pergjoni Transport as his “employer.”

On December 11, 2016, while driving the truck after picking up a trailer from the Saline plant, plaintiff was involved in an accident. He suffered injuries as a result of the accident and had three different surgeries. In December 2017, plaintiff applied for personal protection insurance (PIP) benefits to the MAIPF, alleging that the claim was being made because of a dispute between Farm Bureau, which insured plaintiff’s personal vehicles, and Great American, which insured the Peterbilt truck. A week later, plaintiff filed the instant suit.

The Michigan Assigned Claims Plan (MACP), as maintained by MAIPF, denied plaintiff’s claim. In a denial letter dated January 18, 2018, the MACP stated that “[t]here was higher identifiable coverage at the time of the accident.” The MACP issued a second denial letter, dated January 22, 2018, in which the MACP stated that it could not process plaintiff’s claim without additional information. The letter indicated that because plaintiff had indicated there was a dispute

2 Our use of “Farm Bureau” in this opinion refers to the two Farm Bureau defendants, collectively.

3 To avoid confusion between Alfred Pergjoni and Pergjoni Transport, we will refer to Alfred Pergjoni as Mr. Pergjoni.

-2- between two carriers, he needed to send proof of that dispute. Additionally, the letter stated that once the complete information was received, the claim would be reviewed. Plaintiff concedes that the lower court record does not show that he supplied any of the requested information.

Thereafter, many of the defendants filed motions for summary disposition. Great American alleged that its policy specifically excluded coverage when the truck was being used in the business of a lessee or when being used to transport cargo. In response, without addressing the substance of Great American’s argument or the underlying policy and without citing any law, plaintiff merely asserted that both Farm Bureau and Great American were responsible for PIP benefits.

The MAIPF submitted that, despite plaintiff’s representations in his complaint of a lack of insurance coverage, the evidence showed that plaintiff did have personal no-fault coverage through Farm Bureau and that the truck he was driving was insured by both Great American and nonparty Hudson. The MAIPF concluded that because it was the insurer of last resort and applicable identifiable coverage existed, plaintiff was not eligible to seek benefits through the MAIPF. Plaintiff asserted that because none of the other insurers had acknowledged an obligation to pay PIP benefits, there was a priority dispute, which required the MAIPF to assign the claim. Plaintiff further stated, “[T]he MAIPF is not entitled to summary disposition until such time as there is a higher insurer established either through litigation or acknowledgment of coverage and priority.”4

Farm Bureau contended that it was entitled to summary disposition because, although an insured generally sought the payment of no-fault benefits from his own insurance policy, MCL 500.3114(3) provides an employment exception. Specifically, an employee injured on the job while an occupant of a vehicle owned by the employer is to receive benefits from the insurer of the furnished vehicle. Farm Bureau maintained that at the time of the accident, plaintiff, under the economic-reality test, was an employee of Pergjoni Transport and B&W, which meant that the no- fault benefits were owed by either Great American or Hudson. Plaintiff submitted, in pertinent part, that MCL 500.3114(3) was inapplicable because under the economic-reality test, he was not an “employee” and instead was an independent contractor.

In an opinion and order, the trial court granted Great American’s motion for summary disposition. The trial court noted that the Great American policy had an exclusion for bodily injury arising out of any accident occurring while the vehicle was being used in the business of any lessee or while being used to transport cargo.5 But the court addressed the significance of the policy’s endorsement because, although a general policy may exclude certain coverage, an endorsement can extend coverage. The trial court found no conflict between the endorsement and the general policy and concluded that the exclusion in the policy remained valid. Accordingly, because there

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Bluebook (online)
Syrja Lekli v. Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company of Michigan, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/syrja-lekli-v-farm-bureau-mutual-insurance-company-of-michigan-michctapp-2021.