State ex. Rel Penwell v. Indus. Comm.
Press Operator for 38 years injured when her left hand was crushed in a press. The press had two wrist cables for the operator and safety bar attached to the side of the press. Following the incident it’s important to note that the left safety bar was bent up and this would have taken immense force.
Defense: single malfunction
The press had operated for 38 years without a single incident.
The Court held that Safety regulations do not impose strict liability on employers, the purpose of a specific safety is to provide “reasonable” not absolute, safety for employees.
Practical Take Away:
- To be successful in this defense one must provide the timeline evidencing, claimant’s training on the machine, no other incidents involving the safety device, regular maintenance, safety meetings.
- It is comforting that the Court recognizes that an Employer cannot be an absolute insurer of an employee’s safety.
State ex rel. Viking Forge v. Perry
Claimant was on progressive discipline and was warned that his next infraction would lead to termination. Following the injury he was terminated.
Claimant testified that a co-worker was actually responsible for the infraction.
The IC accepted this testimony and awarded temporary total compensation.
The Court upheld the IC’s decision and specifically reinforced that the IC’s role is to assess the credibility of the evidence and no abuse of discretion was found.
Practical Take Away:
- Claimant’s can allege
- Employers must prove
- If there is a factual dispute, do the investigation, have your witnesses present at hearing.
Welcome to the firm, Cinamon S. Houston, Esq.
We are pleased to announce that we are adding an attorney to our practice, Cinamon S. Houston.
Ms. Houston trained to be a classical ballet dancer at North Carolina School of the Arts, obtained a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biochemistry from the University of Illinois at Chicago 1993, and graduated magna cum laude from the University of Dayton School of Law in 1997. She is licensed in Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky. She has worked in Dayton at several law firms representing plaintiffs, insurance defendants, employers and employees, and has served as a guardian ad litem in the Montgomery County Juvenile Court. She is the author of Ohio Personal Injury Litigation Manual, published by Lexis-Nexis since 2009.
Cinamon S. Houston, Esq.
The Revisiting of ORC 4123.512 Courtesy of Cuyahoga County
Ferguson v. State of Ohio CV-13-810584
ORC 4123.512
“Pleadings shall be in accordance with the Rules of Civil Procedure…and provided that the claimant may not dismiss the complaint without the employer’s consent if the employer is the party that filed the notice of appeal to court pursuant to this section.”
A Court in Cuyahoga County has ruled that it is unconstitutional to prevent an Injured Worker/Plaintiff from dismissing his/her Complaint on an employer’s appeal.
Senate Bill 7 changed the rules in that a Plaintiff/Claimant can only dismiss his/her Complaint with the agreement of the employer. This was changed because the savings statute, allowed a Plaintiff to draw out three years of benefits on a dismissed Complaint while an Employer’s appeal was pending.
The Court held that the Legislature does not have the right to change the Civil Rules of Procedure as that is solely within their discretion and therefore, the Plaintiff’s due process, equal protection rights were violated. The Court also indicated that this rule change also violated a separation of powers. Plaintiff in Ferguson challenged the provision on the grounds that it violated her due process, violated her right to equal protection and violated the separation of powers.
This has been appealed to the Eighth District Court of Appeals and is pending briefs by the Plaintiff on 4/8/15.
LL Patterson LLC’s “Giants” Win Championship!
Congratulations to the “Giants” baseball team sponsored by LL Patterson LLC! The Giants won the Springboro Clearcreek Baseball Association’s Coach Pitch 2 Championship!
Way to Go Giants!
LL Patterson LLC Giants Win Championship!
Lisa Patterson and Logan Patterson