Arbuckle vs. GM, Michigan Court of Appeals – In an unpublished decision, the Michigan Court of Appeals reversed the Worker’s Compensation Appellate Commission and held that the employer could not coordinate worker’s compensation benefits with disability retirement pension benefits despite specific authority to coordinate in the last collective bargaining agreement (CBA). The court reasoned that plaintiff was not bound by the CBA because he was not represented in the negotiations after his retirement. The court further found that the termination of the last collective bargaining agreement when plaintiff was represented also did not permit the employer to coordinate benefits. The court stated that the pension benefit agreements were amended, thus they were never “terminated.”
