Joan Automotive Industries, Inc v. Check

In Joan Automotive Industries, Inc v. Check, 214 Mich App 383, 386-387; 543 NW2d 15 (1995), the Court stated the question presented and its holding as follows: Where the parties accepted a mediation award, may defendant appeal the prior summary disposition of fewer than all claims alleged in his counterclaim, or are the claims deemed to have been incorporated into the mediation award ? After careful review of the relevant court rules and case law, we conclude, in accordance with Reddam v. Consumer Mortgage Corp, 182 Mich App 754, 757; 452 NW2d 908 (1990), that "absent a showing that less than all issues were submitted to mediation, a mediation award covers the entire matter and acceptance of that mediation award settles the entire matter." Because defendant has not shown that fewer than all issues were submitted to mediation in the present case, he may not now appeal the prior summary disposition of the disputed claims. Id. at 386-387. In Joan Automotive, the Court noted that the plaintiff took no action to exclude the previously dismissed claims from mediation. Id. at 389. Indeed, in its mediation summary, the plaintiff "expressly requested that the dismissed counts of defendant's counterclaim 'be mediated at zero dollars.'" Id. at 389 n 3.