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
Senate Bill 5 – General Assembly 131 “PTSD and Ohio Workers’ Compensation”
Senate Bill 5 seeks to have post traumatic stress disorder without physical injury included in the definition of injury for police officers, firefighters and emergency medical workers. Clearly, this move is well intentioned however, it is mired in imprecise language that will cause unintentional consequences resulting in abuse on many levels.
The language in the bill seeks to widen the definition of what was initially – first responders, and emergency technicians, paramedics to “emergency medical workers” – by removing limiting language. This certainly expands the scope of the affected individual.
Of most concern is the emphasis on diagnosis rather than the event itself, which would be very specific to each individual. The fluidity of the language causes difficulty in determining which types of events would warrant this diagnosis and the fact that the latency periods are completely individually based.
The Ohio BWC estimates that the change could cost employers $182 million annually – based on calculations using a national average of 18 percent for first responders filing for PTSD – and double the premiums for public employers.
OSIA Conference Update
Congratulations to Mike Koneval, Director of Business Development at MRG Exams, winner of our gift basket at the Annual OSIA Conference!
Lisa Patterson will present at the OSIA Annual Conference June 17-19, 2015
Lisa Patterson will present at the Annual Ohio Self-Insurers Association Conference, June 17-19, 2015 at The Westin Cleveland Downtown.
What lies beyond an Industrial Commission “final” decision? Lisa Patterson will discuss the avenues of relief that are available beyond the normal administrative appeals process. For example, reconsiderations of final decisions are more likely to be heard by the Commission than appeals.
Ms. Patterson will also discuss the Ohio court remedies that may be used to challenge Commission decisions and how to prepare to improve your chances of success.
If you are interested in this seminar, please go to the OSIA website for more information, http://www.osiaohio.org/.