Court confirms 100 year-old statutory requirement that work comp claims be heard locally

Lawrence Younkin sued thee Executive Director  of Michigan's Administrative Hearing System to compel compliance with the long-standing requirement that workers comp hearings be held in a venue where the injury occurred.  Younkin, injured in Genessee County, objected to the State executives closing their Flint offices and scheduling all Genessee County comp hearings to be heard in Dimondale, Michigan, 70 miles away.

The Court pointed out that a Michigan statute in existence for more than 100 years mandated that hearings be held in the "locality" where the injury occurred.  It rejected the argument that simply holding the hearings within a couple of hours' travel was sufficient compliance.