Bowman v MESC
Digest no. 9.07
Cite as: Bowman v MESC, unpublished opinion of the Macomb County Circuit Court, issued July 7, 1994 (Docket No. 93-1482 AZ).
Appeal pending: No
Claimant: Ronald V. Bowman
Employer: Eastern Airlines
Docket no.: B92-0388-122358W
Date of decision: July 7, 1994
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CIRCUIT COURT HOLDING: Two separate disabilities may be aggregated so as to establish one single “continuous disability” where the second was a pre-existing condition.
FACTS: Claimant was employed by Eastern Airlines. He was placed on a medical leave of absence in May, 1987. The leave ended on July 11, 1988. On November 12, 1988 the claimant underwent surgery for hernia repair. The period of disability for the hernia extended from September 29, 1988 through January 12, 1989. The claimant returned to work in January, 1989 and on March 2, 1989 the claimant found himself without work. He sought unemployment benefits on March 23, 1989.
DECISION: The claimant could preserve credit weeks.
RATIONALE: In order to have sufficient credit weeks to establish a claim, claimant needed those credit weeks earned prior to his original disability which commenced in May, 1987. Credit weeks may be preserved under Section 28a so long as the claimant has a “continuous disability.” In the instant matter, there was a gap in disability; specifically, between July 11, 1988 and September 29, 1988, a period of 79 days. The court observed that the claimant’s hernia condition did not arise on September 29, 1989, but rather pre-existed. Because it pre-existed, the two medical conditions were at one time contemporaneous. Therefore, there was a continuous disability sufficient to satisfy Section 28a.
Digest Author: Board of Review (original digest here)
Digest Updated: 7/99