Garrett v. Jeep Corp.

602 N.E.2d 691, 77 Ohio App. 3d 402, 1991 Ohio App. LEXIS 4558
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedSeptember 30, 1991
DocketNo. L-90-276.
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 602 N.E.2d 691 (Garrett v. Jeep Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Garrett v. Jeep Corp., 602 N.E.2d 691, 77 Ohio App. 3d 402, 1991 Ohio App. LEXIS 4558 (Ohio Ct. App. 1991).

Opinion

Abood, Judge.

This is an appeal from a judgment of the Lucas County Court of Common Pleas which, following a jury verdict in favor of appellee, ordered that appellant, Alford S. Garrett, is not entitled to participate in the Workers’ Compensation Fund. Appellant sets forth two assignments of error:

“A. The Lucas County Court of Common Pleas erred in granting defendant’s motion for a discovery deposition of plaintiff’s expert.
“B. The Lucas County Court of Common Pleas erred by misapplying current law denying plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment.”

The facts that are relevant to the issues raised by this appeal are as follows. On December 21, 1985, appellant sustained an injury in the course of and arising out of his employment with appellee, Jeep Corporation. Appellant filed an application for workers’ compensation benefits with the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation and the Industrial Commission of Ohio (“commis *405 sion”) and appellee certified the claim for an injury to the left knee. On November 4,1987, the commission granted an amendment to the claim for the additional conditions of “contusion right knee and chondromalacia left patella.” On May 17, 1988, the district hearing officer granted an additional allowance for “substantial aggravation of pre-existing bilateral patellofemoral arthritis.” The Toledo Regional Board of Review affirmed the order of May 17, 1988 and the commission refused further appeal. On March 27, 1989, appellee filed a notice of appeal from the decision of the commission, pursuant to R.C. 4123.519, to the Lucas County Court of Common Pleas and, on April 26, 1989, appellant filed a complaint alleging the right to participate in the Workers’ Compensation Fund for the additional condition of “substantial, aggravation of pre-existing bilateral patellofemoral arthritis.”

On December 19, 1989, appellee filed a notice to take the discovery deposition of appellant’s treating physician, Robert L. Kalb, M.D., and a motion to compel appellant to permit this deposition. On December 22, 1989, appellant filed a motion for a protective order prohibiting appellee from taking Dr. Kalb’s deposition. On January 2, 1990, the trial court granted appellee’s motion, denied appellant’s motion, ordered that the discovery deposition of Dr. Kalb take place as scheduled and further ordered that appellant:

“ * * * specifically authorize Dr. Kalb to disclose otherwise privileged information for the purpose of said discovery deposition.
“In so ruling, this Court stresses that this specific authorization, in and of itself, does not constitute a waiver of the physician/patient privilege; and, in fact, this Court reserves ruling as to whether the past conduct of [appellant] constituted such a waiver.”

On February 1, 1990, appellee took the discovery deposition of Dr. Kalb. On February 15, 1990, appellant took a video-taped deposition of Dr. Kalb for use at trial, which tape was filed with the trial court on February 20, 1990.

On February 20, 1990, appellant filed a motion for summary judgment which claimed that he was entitled to judgment on two grounds: (1) that the video-taped deposition of Dr. Kalb establishes an aggravation of a pre-existing condition, and (2) that appellee had explicitly allowed the condition of substantial aggravation of pre-existing bilateral patellofemoral arthritis prior to the May 17, 1988 order of the district hearing officer and that such an allowance by a self-insured employer is conclusive. Attached to appellant’s motion for summary judgment were appellee’s responses to requests for admissions and certain uncertified copies of documents that had been filed with the commission during the administrative proceeding on appellant’s claim which set forth that, over approximately a two-year period, appellee had authorized and paid for three surgeries and various medical treatments and bills and had made *406 disability payments to appellant. Among those documents were (1) the forms for disability compensation, most of which indicated a diagnosis of “left knee chondromalacia patella/bilateral OA in knees”; (2) the forms authorizing surgery, which indicated diagnoses of “right knee internal derangement,” “osteoarthritis, left knee, chondromalacia patella” and “internal derangement, left knee with severe patellofemoral osteoarthritis”; and (3) the forms authorizing payment for treatment, which indicated diagnoses of “patellofemoral osteoarthritis, left knee” and “internal derangement, right knee with recurrent effusion; internal derangement, left knee with severe patellofemoral osteoarthritis.” In its answers to requests for admissions, appellee admitted that it had paid all medical and workers’ compensation benefits for the three surgeries, that “on 12-18-86 it authorized surgery on Bureau form C-161, which notes diagnosis of internal derangement left knee with severe patello-femoral osteoarthritis,” and that it “voluntarily paid temporary total disability benefits from 2/17/86 to 5/24/87 per C-174.”

On March 9, 1990, appellee filed a motion for summary judgment, a memorandum in opposition to appellant’s motion for summary judgment and a transcript of the discovery deposition taken of Dr. Kalb on February 1, 1990. In its memorandum, appellee disputed Dr. Kalb’s testimony as set forth in his trial deposition by the use of his discovery deposition and objected to the use of the uncertified commission documents that were attached to appellant’s motion for summary judgment as not being in compliance with Civ.R. 56(C) and (E). Appellee did not otherwise dispute that it had paid compensation and benefits as recited in appellant’s motion for summary judgment.

On March 22, 1990, appellant filed his response to appellee’s motion for summary judgment and a reply to appellee’s memorandum in opposition to its motion for summary judgment, attaching several more commission documents. These documents, entitled “Self Insured Semi-Annual Report Of Claim Payments” (Form C-174), contained information as to the compensation paid to appellant, the period of disability for which the compensation was paid and the conditions allowed in the claim. Each report is signed by the employer directly beneath the wording:

“By signing below, I do hereby certify that the above payments have been issued to the claimant and/or service provider(s). I have the authority to execute this Employers Report and certify that the information contained herein is correct to the best of my information and belief.”

Each report, beginning with the reporting period ending November 30, 1987 through the reporting period ending May 31, 1989, indicates that the “claim is allowed for: KNEES, CONT/L CHONROMAL, OSTEOARTHRITIS, DER-RANGEM”; that appellee paid physician fee bills, hospital bills and other *407 medical expenses; and on the reporting period form ending November 30, 1987 and May 31, 1988, that temporary total disability compensation was paid “from 5/25/87 to 11/22/87” and “from 02/17/86 to 12/20/87” and “11/23/87 to 4/20/88,” respectively. Also attached to appellant’s reply memorandum are two affidavits of Mark S. Lindberg, Esq.

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Bluebook (online)
602 N.E.2d 691, 77 Ohio App. 3d 402, 1991 Ohio App. LEXIS 4558, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/garrett-v-jeep-corp-ohioctapp-1991.