STEVEN RAAB V RIVER RIDGE-SALINE LLC

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STATE OF MICHIGAN COURT OF APPEALS STEVEN RAAB and AMBER RAAB, UNPUBLISHED May 12, 2009 Plaintiffs-Appellants/CrossAppellees, v No. 280335 Washtenaw Circuit Court LC No. 05-000326-CE RIVER RIDGE-SALINE, LLC, Defendant-Appellee/CrossAppellant. Before: Bandstra, P.J., and Whitbeck and Shapiro, JJ. SHAPIRO, J. (concurring in part and dissenting in part). I concur in the affirmance of the trial court’s denial of defendant’s motion for summary disposition seeking dismissal of plaintiff’s case. I respectfully dissent from the majority’s affirmance of the trial court’s transfer of the case to the district court based upon its finding that plaintiff’s damages do not exceed $25,000. The majority relies on Administrative Order 1998-1 as the basis for the transfer to district court. That Administrative Order provides for transfer only where the circuit court finds “to a legal certainty” that the amount in controversy is not greater than the district court’s jurisdictional limit. Further, that demanding determination must be made based on the allegations in the complaint. Etefia v Credit Tech, 245 Mich App 466, 475; 628 NW2d 577 (2001). The instant case involves claims of nuisance, wrongful eviction and negligence and seeks both economic and non-economic damages. While the proofs attached to the summary disposition motion and response do not appear to provide a basis for economic damages in excess of the district court’s jurisdictional limit, non-economic damages by their nature “cannot be proved in a precise dollar amount” and “the law leaves such amount to [the] sound judgment [of a jury].” SJI2d 50.01. Accordingly, I conclude that this is not a case under which transfer to the district court can be made under AO 1998-1. /s/ Douglas B. Shapiro -1-

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