State ex rel. Byk v. Indus. Comm.

Citations

• 243 N.E.3d 625
• 2024 Ohio 1598

Syllabus

WORKERS' COMPENSATION – SCHEDULED-LOSS BENEFITS – R.C. 4123.57(B) – ACCRUED BENEFITS CLAIM BY SURVIVING DEPENDENTS – R.C. 4123.60: Because nothing in the scheduled-loss compensation statute, R.C. 4123.57(B), requires proof of \direct trauma\ to an injured worker's extremity in order to substantiate an award for the permanent loss of use of hands, arms, legs, or feet, the commission erred in extending the Supreme Court of Ohio's holding in State ex rel. Smith v. Indus. Comm., 138 Ohio St.3d 312, 2014-Ohio-513 to claims involving loss of function of extremities caused by brain injury where objective and reliable medical evidence showed the existence of a loss as contemplated by R.C. 4123.57(B). Commission's erroneous reliance on Smith as the sole basis for denying injured worker's claim while he was alive did not have collateral estoppel consequences on surviving spouse's subsequent application, pursuant to R.C. 4123.60, for scheduled-loss compensation that had accrued and would have been due to her husband at the time of his death. Magistrate erred in evaluating the substantive merits of wife's claim in the first instance, instead of returning the matter to the commission for an initial adjudication through the appropriate administrative process. Objections to magistrate's decision sustained in part and overruled in part limited writ of mandamus granted.