Genesee County Friend of the Court v. General Motors Corp.

The issue in this case is whether certain categories of payments made by General Motors to its employees constitute “earnings” within the meaning of the federal Consumer Credit Protection Act (ccpa). 15 USC 1672(a). If so, they are subject to a limitation on the amount that may be captured by income withholding orders under the Support and Parenting Time Enforcement Act. The lower courts have held that two types of payments, profit-sharing payments and “recognition awards,” were not earnings under § 1672(a), but that “signing bonus” payments were.

We conclude that all three categories of…