Jakob v. Eckhart

963 N.E.2d 851, 196 Ohio App. 3d 368
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedSeptember 30, 2011
DocketNo. L-11-1046
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 963 N.E.2d 851 (Jakob v. Eckhart) 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
Jakob v. Eckhart, 963 N.E.2d 851, 196 Ohio App. 3d 368 (Ohio Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

Handwork, Judge.

{¶ 1} Appellant, the administrator of workers’ compensation, appeals from a judgment by the Lucas County Court of Common Pleas, granting a motion for partial summary judgment in favor of appellee, Nicholas S. Jakob. For the reasons that follow, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

{¶ 2} On or about June 13, 2007, Jakob began working for Dennis Eckhart, a general contractor and owner of Dennis Eckhart Builder. The job involved work on a home belonging to Mike Granger. At some point during the performance of the job, Jakob was standing on a three-step ladder, repairing a drywall ceiling, when his knee twisted and the ladder collapsed. Jakob fell to the floor and, as a result, sustained injury.

{¶ 3} Jakob did not return to the work site following the accident. In total, Jakob was on the job site for two days and performed somewhere between six and nine hours of work. Jakob estimated that at the time of the injury, he had completed all but 20 percent of the project he was assigned to perform.

{¶ 4} Eckhart never saw Jakob after the day of his injury, but he did run into Jakob’s father and gave him a $100 bill to give to Jakob for the work he had done.

{¶ 5} On June 28, 2007, Jakob filed an application with the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation seeking recovery for a right wrist fracture, a left elbow fracture, and a right knee injury. Jakob’s claim was disallowed by the administrator because there was “no proof of an employee/employer relationship between the injured worker and the listed employer.”

[371]*371{¶ 6} Jakob appealed the administrator’s decision to the Industrial Commission of Ohio. The commission, through its district hearing officer, affirmed the administrator’s decision, finding that Jakob was not an employee pursuant to R.C. 4123.01(A)(1)(b) and, thus, was not entitled to receive benefits from the Workers’ Compensation Fund. Specifically, the district hearing officer stated:

{¶ 7} “Pursuant to O.R.C. 4123.01(A)(1)(b), injured worker is found to be a casual worker who is an exemption to the Worker’s Compensation statute and is excluded from participation in the state fund. The injured worker is found to be an employee of the named employer as he was controlled by the employer pursuant to the affidavit, filed 8/20/07. The contract for hire between injured worker and employer was an oral contract that was vague as to its terms. However, it is found that injured worker was hired by employer to finish off a job due to the absence of one of his regular workers. No continuing relationship was contemplated by the employer. Injured worker was paid $100.00 cash for his work. He is therefore considered to be a casual laborer, and he received less than $160.00, he is not covered by the Worker’s Compensation system.”

{¶ 8} Jakob appealed the district hearing officer’s decision to the Industrial Commission. The Industrial Commission, through its staff hearing officer, upheld the decision of the district hearing officer, finding that Jakob was a “casual worker” under R.C. 4123.01(A)(1)(b) and, therefore, not entitled to participate in the state fund.

{¶ 9} Jakob subsequently appealed to the Industrial Commission from the staff hearing officer’s decision. The commission declined to hear Jakob’s appeal.

{¶ 10} Jakob next appealed the Industrial Commission’s order to the Lucas County Court of Common Pleas. As part of the proceedings, he filed a motion for partial summary judgment on the issue whether he was an employee of Eckhart. On January 10, 2011, the trial court granted Jakob’s motion and found that at the time of the injury, Jakob was an employee of Eckhart pursuant to R.C. 4123.01(A)(1)(c).

{¶ 11} The case proceeded to trial on January 31, 2011. The jury rendered a verdict in favor of Jakob, finding that he was entitled to participate in the Workers’ Compensation Fund for the conditions of “fracture of the head of the radius, left.” The administrator timely appealed the trial court’s judgment granting partial summary judgment, raising the following assignments of error:

{¶ 12} I. “The trial court erred as a matter of law when it granted Plaintiffs motion for partial summary judgment finding that the Plaintiff did not have to comply with R.C. 4123.01(A)(1)(b) because the Plaintiffs contract of hire was made pursuant to a ‘construction contract,’ as referenced in R.C. 4123.01(A)(1)(c).”

[372]*372{¶ 13} II. “The trial court erred as a matter of law when it granted Plaintiffs motion for partial summary judgment and found that Plaintiff was an employee pursuant to R.C. 4123.01(A)(1)(c).”

{¶ 14} An appellate court reviewing a trial court’s granting of summary judgment does so de novo, applying the same standard used by the trial court. Grafton v. Ohio Edison Co. (1996), 77 Ohio St.3d 102, 105, 671 N.E.2d 241. Civ.R. 56(C) provides:

{¶ 15} “Summary judgment shall be rendered forthwith if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, written admissions, affidavits, transcripts of evidence, and written stipulations of fact, if any, timely filed in the action, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. No evidence or stipulation may be considered except as considered in this rule.”

{¶ 16} Summary judgment is proper where (1) no genuine issue of material fact remains to be litigated, (2) the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law, and (3) when the evidence is viewed most strongly in favor of the nonmoving party, reasonable minds can come to but one conclusion, a conclusion adverse to the nonmoving party. Ryberg v. Allstate Ins. Co. (July 12, 2001), 10th Dist. No. 00AP-1243, 2001 WL 777121, citing Tokles & Son, Inc. v. Midwestern Indemn. Co. (1992), 65 Ohio St.3d 621, 629, 605 N.E.2d 936.

{¶ 17} The moving party bears the initial burden of informing the trial court of the basis for the motion and identifying those portions of the record that demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of fact as to an essential element of one or more of the nonmoving party’s claims. Dresher v. Burt (1996), 75 Ohio St.3d 280, 292, 662 N.E.2d 264. Once this burden has been satisfied, the nonmoving party has the burden, as set forth at Civ.R. 56(E), to offer specific facts showing a genuine issue for trial. Id.

{¶ 18} R.C. 4123.01(A)(1), which defines the term “employee” for purposes of the workers’ compensation laws, provides as follows:

{¶ 19} “(A)(1) ‘Employee’ means:

{¶ 20} “ * * *

{¶21} “(b) Every person in the service of any person, firm, or private corporation, including any public service corporation, that (i) employs one or more persons regularly in the same business or in or about the same establishment under any contract of hire, express or implied, oral or written, including aliens and minors, household workers who earn one hundred sixty dollars or more in cash in any calendar quarter from a single household and casual workers who earn one hundred sixty dollars or more in cash in any calendar quarter from a single employer, or (ii) is bound by any such contract of hire or by any other [373]

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
963 N.E.2d 851, 196 Ohio App. 3d 368, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jakob-v-eckhart-ohioctapp-2011.