Brown v. Indust. Comm.

38 N.E.2d 607, 34 Ohio Law. Abs. 557, 1941 Ohio App. LEXIS 941
Ohio Court of Appeals·Decided July 12, 1941·No. No 426·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

OPINION

BY THE COURT:

This is an appeal on questions of law from a judgment in behalf of plaintiff and against the defendant after the trial judge had overruled a demurrer of the defendant to the petition of the plaintiff and the defendant had elected to plead no further.

The errors assigned are:

(1) In overruling the demurrer to the petition.

(2) In finding upon the petition for the plaintiff instead of entering .judgment for defendant upon the pleadings.

[558]*558(3) The judgment of the Common Pleas Court is contrary to law.

The determinative questions are succinctly stated as follows: Is the order of the Industrial Commission upon the application of plaintiff for rehearing a denial of the right of plaintiff to participate m the Workmen’s Compensation Fund upon any jurisdictional ground, and, if so, do the facts admitted by the demurrer to the petition state a cause of action in favor of the plaintiff?

The essential facts appearing, necessary to an appreciation of the question presented, are as follows: The plaintiff. on and before December 7, 1936, was regularly employed by the City of Springfield as a police officer, which city contributed to the State Insurance Fund. On the aforesaid date the plaintiff was injured, the injury occurring in the course of and arising out of his employment as a police officer for said city. On May 25, 1937, plaintiff filed his application with the defendant Commission for compensation, which claim was recognized by the allowance of payment for medical services. Thereafter, plaintiff moved to modify a previous award and on February 21, 1939, the claim was referred to the Dayton Board of Claims for investigation, and thereafter by said Board referred back to the defendant Commission, which on March 28, 1939, after hearing, made the following order:

“That compensation for temporary partial disability on an impairment of $15.00 per week be granted from April 8, 1936, to about August 8, 1936, upon the filing of monthly wage statements by the claimant, unless such wage statements show a lesser impairment, in which case compensation is to be paid on the impairment shown; that claimant be scheduled for medical examination prior to the expiration of this award.

The Board find claimant’s average weekly wage to be $29.00 per week.”

Thereafter, on July 31, 1939, the Dayton Board of Claims made the following order:

“That the Board’s order of March 28, 1939, be revoked and that the application to modify a previous award, filed Nov. 22, 1938, be dismissed. The Board find that claimant is not entitled to compensation due to the fact that §1465-61 rules on the eligibility to participate whenever claimant is receiving compensation from the Workmen’s Compensation Fund in the State of Ohio. * * *.”

An application for rehearing was made by plaintiff, and on December 16, 1940, this order made thereon:

“After Round Table Conference, Commission orders that the claim be disallowed on rehearing for the reason that the claimant herein is eligible to participate in the Police Pension Fund and in fact does participate in such Fund to the extent of $100.00 per month, which amount is in excess of that provided by the Workmen’s Compensation Law and to §1465-61. Claimant is therefore not entitled to compensation.”

It further appears that on the date of plaintiff’s injury the City of Springfield had in operation what was known as a Police Relief Fund, administered by a Board of Trustees of said fund, which Board on September 30, 1938, by resolution, awarded the plaintiff a pension from said fund in the amount of $75.00 per month; that on the date of plaintiff’s resignation he had served for a period of 25 years in the Police Department of the City of Springfield, Ohio, and that pursuant to Rule 20 of the Rules and Regulations of the Board of Trustees of the Police Relief Fund of the City of Springfield, it was provided that any member of the Department of Police of said city who had served faithfully for a period of 25 consecutive years might voluntarily retire by resignation and upon the approval of a majority of Trustees of said fund be placed upon the Police Relief Roll at an annual rate of pension at not less than $100.00 per month, regardless of his salary at the time of [559]*559his retirement. Plaintiff tendered his resignation on June 23, 1938.

It is further alleged that an award of $75.00 was made upon the basis of plaintiff being a disabled police officer under Section 2 of Rule 20 of the Rules and Regulations of said Board. Plaintiff says that because the Board of Trustees would not grant him the award of $100.00 per month for 25 years faithful service on the police force prior to his resignation, he instituted an action in mandamus in the Common Pleas Court of Clark County, Ohio, against said Board and that by reason of this action and the claim therein set forth, the Court entered judgment in plaintiff’s favor, and that he was thereafter awarded and is being paid $100.00 a month for 25 years faithful service on said police force, in accordance with the Rules and Regulations of the aforesaid Board of Trustees. Therefore, it is the claim of the plaintiff that, inasmuch as he is being paid from the Police Relief Fund of the City of Springfield, Ohio, because of 25 years faithful service, and is not being compensated as an injured police officer, under Section 2, Rule 20 of the Rules and Regulations of the Pension Board, he is not barred by the provisions of §1465-61 GC, from participating in the State Insurance Fund, under the Workmen’s Compensation Law, but on the contrary, is entitled to participate in said fund.

Upon the first error assigned, it is essential to the right of the plaintiff to appeal from the action of the defendant Commission upon his application for an award, that the Commission deny his application for rehearing upon a jurisdictional ground, as provided in §1465-90 GC, effective as of the date of his injury and of his application.

The question in this case, whether or not the order of the Commission on the application for rehearing is one from which an appeal can be taken, is different from any that has heretofore come to our attention, or of which we have any knowledge. The order is a finding to the effect that the Commission has no authority to inquire into the extent of the disability or the amount of compensation for the reason that no compensation may be awarded because of the intervention of the terms of §1465-61 GC. When this section is invoked as a basis for the order, it is tantamount to a finding of the Commission that the applicant is not in the status of an employee and that nothing in the Workmen’s Compensation Act shall have application to enable him to participate in the fund. This was a denial upon a jurisdictional ground, so recognized in McDonald v Industrial Commission, 30 Abs 33. We are satisfied that this order upon the application for rehearing is appealable.

We come then to the second question, namely, the effect, of §1465-61 GC, upon the right of the plaintiff to participate in the Workmen’s Compensation Fund under the averments of his petition. This section provides:

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Brown v. Indust. Comm., 38 N.E.2d 607, 34 Ohio Law. Abs. 557, 1941 Ohio App. LEXIS 941 (Ohio Ct. App. 1941).

38 N.E.2d 607 (Brown v. Indust. Comm.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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