Drouillard v. Stroh Brewery Co.

Plaintiffs worked as general laborers for Stroh Brewery Company in Detroit from 1956 until the company closed the plant in June 1985. At issue in these consolidated cases are challenges by Stroh and its insurer, Aetna Casualty and Surety Company, to the award of benefits to plaintiffs, the question whether the funds plaintiffs received in a distribution of Stroh’s pension fund upon the closing of the brewery are subject to coordination with workers’ compensation benefits, and the proper application of the two-year-back rule.

We first address defendants’ challenges to the award of benefits to…