Carpenter v. CITY OF FLINT SCH. DIST.
Carpenter v. CITY OF FLINT SCH. DIST.
Opinion of the Court
Plaintiff appeals as of right from a grant of summary judgment entered in favor of defendant.
The facts of this case are not at issue. Plaintiff is the widow of Frank J. Carpenter who, prior to his death in February of 1980, had been an employee of defendant school district for over 33 years. At the time of his death Mr. Carpenter was 53 years of age. Under the terms of a master contract between Service Employees International Union, AFL-CIO, Local 591, and defendant school district, Mr. Carpenter had accumulated, as of the date of his death, approximately 267 days of unused sick and emergency leave. There are no provisions in the master contract specifically addressing the effect the death of an employee has on accumulated sick and emergency leave. However, paragraph 15(e) of the contract does provide that upon resignation or discharge of an employee accumulated sick leave and emergency leave is forfeited. Paragraph 15(e) further provides that a qualified retiring employee may receive compensation for up to 120 days of unused sick and emergency leave.
Plaintiff’s complaint alleged that under the payments of wages and fringe benefits act, MCL 408.471 et seq.; MSA 17.277(1) et seq., she was entitled to be compensated for the unused leave her husband had accumulated prior to his death. Defendant disagreed.
The parties submitted a stipulated statement of facts and then cross-filed motions for summary judgment under GCR 1963, 117.2(3). In her motion for summary judgment plaintiff argued that her husband’s accumulated leave time was a fringe
In its initial ruling the trial court found that paragraph 15(e) of the master contract should be applied when an employee dies in that "death is the ultimate retirement”. However, since the parties had not submitted any proof as to whether plaintiff’s husband met the necessary qualifications for payment of the benefits under § 15(e), the trial court denied both motions for summary judgment. Subsequently, defendant filed an affidavit to the effect that plaintiff’s husband, at the time of his death, had not met the qualifications for payments under the retirement provisions of paragraph 15(e). The trial court agreed and entered summary judgment in favor of defendant. It is from this ruling which plaintiff appeals.
As she did before the trial court, plaintiff argues that § 4, MCL 408.474; MSA 17.277(4), of the wages and fringe benefits act mandates that fringe benefits, such as unused leave, cannot be withheld from her because the master contract did not specifically provide for such withholding.
Before we address the merits of plaintiff’s arguments, we note that our review of the wages and fringe benefits act is governed by the traditional rules of statutory construction. Thus, if the statute is unambiguous on its face, we will avoid further interpretation of its terms. However, if an ambigú
The wages and fringe benefits act indicates that payment of fringe benefits is controlled by the written employment contract or by a written policy. See MCL 408.471(e); MSA 17.277(l)(e) and MCL 408.473; MSA 17.277(3). The act does not make a contract for the parties as to which type of fringe benefits are due. Rather, the act governs the time and manner of payment of fringe benefits due under the contract. In order to provide for an expeditious settlement of a dispute regarding wages or fringe benefits the act also provides that disputes are to be handled, initially, by the Department of Labor.
In our view the obvious goal of § 4 is to ensure that an employee entitled to compensation for fringe benefits at a termination of employment is not unjustly deprived of his compensation. Thus, fringe benefits due at termination of employment may not be withheld unless the employee freely consents to the withholding. Such consent must be evidenced by a written contract or a signed statement. Section 4 was not meant to address a situation where an employee entitled to fringe benefits dies. Thus, plaintiffs arguments as to § 4 are without merit.
Although § 4 is not meant to address disposition of fringe benefits in the event of an employee’s death, § 10 is._
In the instant case the trial court attempted to handle the absence of language in the contract as to plaintiffs entitlement to compensation for unused sick and emergency leave by finding that the retirement provision of paragraph 15(e) should be applied in the event of an employee’s death. It is not clear from the record how the trial court arrived at this conclusion. There is no citation to any authority or any reference to a clause in the contract which would support the conclusion that death is to be treated as the equivalent of retirement. Because the trial court’s interpretation of the contract is not supported by the plain language of the contract, we find it to be clearly erroneous.
Affirmed. No costs, interpretation of a statute being involved.
Arguably, plaintiff should have filed a complaint with the Department of Labor rather than in circuit court. MCL 408.481; MSA 17.277(11). However, since plaintiff is not an "employee” within the meaning of the act, administrative review may not have been required as a prerequisite to judicial relief. In any case, we find that this issue has not been preserved for appellate review and therefore we decline to address it.
Dissenting Opinion
(dissenting). I cannot agree with the majority’s disposition of this matter. The parties here involved do not dispute that a valid contract existed between plaintiff’s husband and defendant. The parties also agree that under the contract plaintiff’s husband had unused sick and emergency leave fringe benefits at the time of his death. Lastly, there is no dispute that the contract failed to provide for the disposition of those fringe benefits in the case of death.
While I agree that the trial court’s ruling that the retirement provision should be applied in the case of death was clearly erroneous, I would remand to the trial court to allow the parties the opportunity to supply the omitted contractual term based upon the intent of the parties at the time the contract was made. See Redinger v Standard Oil Co, 6 Mich App 74; 148 NW2d 225 (1967), Nichols v Seaks, 296 Mich 154, 159; 295 NW 596 (1941).
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Carpenter v. School District of the City of Flint
- Cited By
- 7 cases
- Status
- Published