Fellows v. Michigan Commission for the Blind

I. NATURE OF THE CASE

This case involves an issue of first impression: namely, the proper interpretation of the Michigan blind and visually disabled person’s act (the Act), MCL 393.351 et seq. Among other things, the Act created respondent, the Michigan Commission for the Blind (the Commission),1 an administrative agency to which the Legislature delegated certain powers. This dispute is about the extent of those powers — specifically, whether the Legislature granted the Commission the *292ability to award monetary damages to aggrieved claimants. Petitioner, a blind man who operated a concession at…