DOWNRIVER MAINTENANCE CORPORATION V MICHAEL L DECKER
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STATE OF MICHIGAN
COURT OF APPEALS
DOWNRIVER MAINTENANCE
CORPORATION,
UNPUBLISHED
August 30, 2002
Plaintiff-Appellant,
v
No. 232875
Oakland Circuit Court
LC No. 00-022654-CZ
MICHAEL L. DECKER and DEFINED
EMPLOYEE MANAGEMENT,
Defendants-Appellees.
Before: White, P.J., and Hoekstra and O’Connell, JJ.
WHITE, P.J. (dissenting).
Plaintiff presented sufficient evidence to avoid summary disposition. The Yates affidavit
stated that defendant represented that plaintiff would be charged actual costs plus administrative
fees. Krautner-Simmons testified that Meverock indicated that because defendant would not be
paying certain things, it would not be charging plaintiff for them, and that defendant “would be
charging us what was - what they were incurring and that they would be charging us fees on top
of that for their processing.” The MESC form provided by Decker purported to set forth a rate
that was in accord with what defendant was charging plaintiff, but was not in accord with what
defendant was paying in plaintiff’s behalf. The contract clearly and unambiguously speaks in
terms of “reimbursement” of all costs incurred by defendant in connection with the required
taxes and insurance, and specifically mentions, in connection with reimbursement, charges for
unemployment taxes and workers compensation coverage. I do not regard the rate sheet
proposals as fatal to plaintiff’s claim, since the rate sheet is silent regarding whether it represents
the rates actually paid by defendant. Further, there was sufficient evidence of reliance.
Krautner-Simmons testified that she never attempted to negotiate the rates because she did not
realize they were negotiable. Plaintiff did, indeed, compare defendant’s rates with the rates of
another company prior to learning that defendant was charging rates above the actual rates, but in
1999 plaintiff secured lower rates from a different company. The fact that one company’s rates
were higher than defendant’s does not establish that plaintiff did not rely on defendant’s alleged
misrepresentations.
I would reverse and remand for further proceedings.
/s/ Helene N. White
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