Serious impairment and a Michigan soldier

A no fault insurer recently avoided paying compensation to a soldier who was partially disabled for 18 months after a motor vehicle collision, claiming that her injuries were not a "serious impairment".

     In Stevenson v. Allstate, the Plaintiff was a tech sergeant stationed in Michigan when her van was struck by another car.  She suffered an annular bulge at L5-S1, and endured extensive treatment for low back pain, including multiple injections and six months of intensive physical therapy.    During the 18 months she was partially disabled, she was ineligible for promotion, which cost her $18,000.00, and she was also ineligible to be deployed in Iraq--which cost her $60,000.00.  She alleged that together these accident-related problems and issues constituted an injury that was a "serious impairment of bodily function", although she readily conceded she had no permanent residuals.

     The Court of Appeals noted that it is not necessary to establish permanent or long-term residuals in order to establish a serious impairment, but then pointed out that the Supreme Court's Kreiner decision interpreted the "serious impairment" standard to require a "life-altering" injury (that much-criticized language appears nowhere in the statute or the legislative history--it is a creation of the activist Engler Justices' creative efforts on behalf of the insurance industry).  The judges said that Stevenson's 18 months of life complications were not "life-altering" and were therefore not "serious":  she could not sue the at-fault driver.