State ex rel. Belle Tire Distribs., Inc. v. Indus. Comm. (Slip Opinion)

2018 Ohio 2122, 116 N.E.3d 102, 154 Ohio St. 3d 488
CourtOhio Supreme Court
DecidedJune 5, 2018
Docket2016-1839
StatusPublished
Cited by50 cases

This text of 2018 Ohio 2122 (State ex rel. Belle Tire Distribs., Inc. v. Indus. Comm. (Slip Opinion)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State ex rel. Belle Tire Distribs., Inc. v. Indus. Comm. (Slip Opinion), 2018 Ohio 2122, 116 N.E.3d 102, 154 Ohio St. 3d 488 (Ohio 2018).

Opinions

Per Curiam.

*105*488{¶ 1} Appellant, Belle Tire Distributors, Inc., filed a complaint for a writ of mandamus in the Tenth District Court of Appeals challenging appellee Industrial Commission's determination that it had continuing jurisdiction to reconsider a previous order denying a claim for death benefits because of a clear mistake of fact regarding how the decedent worker died.

{¶ 2} The court of appeals granted a motion to dismiss filed by appellee Judy Melroy on the basis that Belle Tire had a plain and adequate remedy at law-the right to appeal to a court of common pleas pursuant to R.C. 4123.512.

*489{¶ 3} For the reasons that follow, we reverse the judgment of the court of appeals, and we remand the matter for that court to address the merits of Belle Tire's mandamus claim.

{¶ 4} Herbert Melroy was employed by Belle Tire on November 19, 2014, the day he died. His surviving spouse, Judy Melroy, filed a claim for death benefits with the Bureau of Workers' Compensation. The bureau determined that the decedent's death was not work related and denied the claim.

{¶ 5} Melroy appealed the bureau's denial to the Industrial Commission. A district hearing officer vacated the order and allowed the claim.

{¶ 6} Belle Tire then appealed. A staff hearing officer vacated the district hearing officer's order, finding that Melroy had failed to prove that the decedent's death occurred in the course of and arose out of his employment. The staff hearing officer denied the claim, and the commission refused to hear Melroy's appeal.

{¶ 7} Melroy then asked the commission to reconsider its order. Pursuant to R.C. 4123.52, the commission has continuing jurisdiction over a case and may modify or change its former findings or orders if the commission finds that a change is justified. Continuing jurisdiction is not unlimited; a party seeking to invoke the commission's continuing jurisdiction must show (1) new and changed circumstances, (2) fraud, (3) a clear mistake of fact or law, or (4) an error by an inferior tribunal. State ex rel. Nicholls v. Indus. Comm. , 81 Ohio St.3d 454, 459, 692 N.E.2d 188 (1998).

{¶ 8} The commission concluded that it had continuing jurisdiction to reconsider the staff hearing officer's order because the order had been based on a clear mistake of fact. On reconsideration, the commission allowed the claim for death benefits on its merits.

{¶ 9} Belle Tire filed this mandamus action alleging that the commission abused its discretion when it concluded that the staff hearing officer's order contained a clear mistake of fact that justified exercising continuing jurisdiction. Belle Tire alleged that the commission had a clear legal duty to deny the request for reconsideration and to affirm the staff hearing officer's order denying the claim.

{¶ 10} Belle Tire also appealed the order granting death benefits to the Lucas County Court of Common Pleas, pursuant to R.C. 4123.512. At the request of Belle Tire, the common pleas court stayed that proceeding pending a decision by the Tenth District in the mandamus action.

{¶ 11} Melroy filed a motion to dismiss in the court of appeals pursuant to Civ.R. 12(B). Relying on *106State ex rel. Alhamarshah v. Indus. Comm ., 142 Ohio St.3d 524, 2015-Ohio-1357, 33 N.E.3d 43, and *490State ex rel. Johnson v. Ohio State Univ. Cancer Research Hosp ., 10th Dist. Franklin No. 14AP-430, 2015-Ohio-3249, 2015 WL 4760677, Melroy argued that Belle Tire had an adequate remedy at law in the form of its R.C. 4123.512 appeal.

{¶ 12} The court of appeals agreed with Melroy's argument and dismissed the action, concluding that the commission's decision to exercise its continuing jurisdiction was appealable to the court of common pleas pursuant to R.C. 4123.512.

{¶ 13} Belle Tire's appeal of the judgment granting Melroy's motion to dismiss is now before this court.

Melroy's Motion to Dismiss this Appeal

{¶ 14} As an initial matter, we address Melroy's motion to dismiss Belle Tire's appeal for lack of jurisdiction. Melroy maintains that Belle Tire has an adequate remedy at law that it exercised when it filed an appeal in the Lucas County Court of Common Pleas in 2016.

{¶ 15} This court has jurisdiction over this appeal of right from the court of appeals' judgment pursuant to Ohio Constitution, Article IV, Section 2 (B)(2)(i). Therefore, dismissal is unwarranted. We deny Melroy's motion.

Merits of the Appeal

{¶ 16} We review the court of appeals' decision granting Melroy's motion to dismiss the complaint filed below. That court concluded that Melroy had an adequate remedy at law by way of appeal pursuant to R.C. 4123.512 and dismissed the complaint for failure to state a claim for relief.

{¶ 17} "A motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted is procedural and tests the sufficiency of the complaint." State ex rel. Hanson v. Guernsey Cty. Bd. of Commrs. , 65 Ohio St.3d 545, 548, 605 N.E.2d 378 (1992). A court may grant a motion to dismiss only when the complaint, when construed in the light most favorable to the plaintiff and presuming all the factual allegations in the complaint are true, demonstrates that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts entitling him to relief. Mitchell v. Lawson Milk Co. , 40 Ohio St.3d 190, 192, 532 N.E.2d 753 (1988).

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2018 Ohio 2122, 116 N.E.3d 102, 154 Ohio St. 3d 488, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-belle-tire-distribs-inc-v-indus-comm-slip-opinion-ohio-2018.