Ottenwess v. Hawkeye Security Insurance

Plaintiff, decedent’s spouse, instituted suit to collect no-fault automobile insurance benefits from decedent’s insurer, Hawkeye Security Insurance Company (Hawkeye), and decedent’s employer’s insurer, Travelers Insurance Company (Travelers). The trial court granted both defendants summary judgment on the authority of Mathis v Interstate Motor Freight System, 73 Mich App 602; 252 NW2d 842 (1977), and plaintiff appeals.

The decedent, Michael Ottenwess, was an employee of Wickes Lumber Company. While examining or attempting to repair a malfunction in the mechanism of a company dump truck,…