State ex rel. Village of Oakwood v. Industrial Commission

943 N.E.2d 1083, 190 Ohio App. 3d 689
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedDecember 2, 2010
DocketNo. 09AP-999
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 943 N.E.2d 1083 (State ex rel. Village of Oakwood v. Industrial Commission) 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
State ex rel. Village of Oakwood v. Industrial Commission, 943 N.E.2d 1083, 190 Ohio App. 3d 689 (Ohio Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

Sadler, Judge.

{¶ 1} Relator, the village of Oakwood, filed this original action seeking a writ of mandamus directing respondent, the Industrial Commission of Ohio, to vacate its order finding that relator is the correct employer in an industrial claim made by respondent-claimant Craig Ali and to enter an order naming respondent Kokos-ing Construction Co., Inc. as the correct employer.

{¶ 2} We referred this case to a magistrate of this court pursuant to Tenth District Loc.App.R. 12(M) and Civ.R. 53. On July 27, 2010, the magistrate issued a decision, a copy of which is attached to this decision as an appendix, recommending that we grant a writ directing the commission to vacate its order finding that relator is the correct employer and to enter a new order after conducting the proper analysis of all factors to be considered when determining the proper employer. The commission and Kokosing each filed objections to the magistrate’s decision.

{¶ 3} On May 23, 2008, claimant, an Oakwood police officer, was injured while conducting traffic control at a construction site operated by Kokosing. Claimant was sitting in an Oakwood police cruiser when it was rear-ended by another vehicle. In the initial injury report, claimant named relator as his employer.

{¶ 4} On June 2, 2008, the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (“BWC”) issued an order allowing the claim, naming relator, a state-fund employer, as the employer for purposes of the claim. On June 5, 2008, BWC issued another order stating that it had determined that relator was not the proper employer and that the claim would be placed instead against Kokosing, a self-insured employer. On June 6, 2008, BWC issued a third order stating that because Kokosing is a self-insured employer, BWC had no jurisdiction to make any determination regarding the claim.

{¶ 5} Kokosing refused to certify the claim, and the matter was referred to the commission for adjudication. After an October 1, 2008 hearing, a district hearing officer (“DHO”) issued an order allowing the claim and naming Kokosing as the employer. After a December 8, 2008 hearing, a staff hearing officer (“SHO”) issued an order vacating the DHO’s order, finding that relator was the correct employer. The SHO cited evidence that relator had directed Kokosing to use relator’s police officers for traffic control at the construction site, instead of Kokosing’s following its usual practice of using Ohio State Highway Patrol officers for traffic control; Oakwood Police Sergeant Biggam identified claimant as an appropriate officer to perform the traffic-control duties and arranged for claimant’s use of an Oakwood police cruiser while performing those duties; and claimant wore his police uniform while performing the duties. The SHO concluded that if claimant had not been an Oakwood police officer, he would not have [692]*692been present at the time of the injury giving rise to his claim, thus making relator the proper employer for purposes of the claim.

{¶ 6} In the first part of his decision, the magistrate discusses at some length the issue of whether identification of the proper employer for a claim is properly the subject of a mandamus action or whether mandamus is not a proper remedy in such cases because a de novo appeal filed under R.C. 4123.512 provides a plain and adequate remedy. The magistrate concluded that the mandamus action here is not barred by the existence of a plain and adequate remedy under R.C. 4123.512 and proceeded to consider the merits of the mandamus claim. None of the parties has taken issue with that portion of the magistrate’s decision, and, finding no error, we adopt that portion of the magistrate’s decision as our own.

{¶ 7} Regarding the merits of the claim, the magistrate considered the decision rendered by the Second District Court of Appeals in Cooper v. Dayton (1997), 120 Ohio App.3d 34, 696 N.E.2d 640. That case involved a dispute regarding the proper employer for workers’ compensation purposes for a police officer injured while serving as a special duty officer at a grocery store. In determining what entity was the proper employer, the court set forth a “totality of the circumstances” test that included three specific circumstances: “ ‘(1) the proximity of the scene of the accident to the place of employment, (2) the degree of control the employer had over the scene of the accident, and (3) the benefit the employer received from the injured employee’s presence at the scene of the accident.’ ” Id. at 41, quoting Lord v. Daugherty (1981), 66 Ohio St.2d 441, 444, 20 O.O.3d 376, 423 N.E.2d 96.

(¶ 8} The magistrate concluded that while it included some analysis relevant to the issue, the SHO’s order neither mentioned the totality-of-the-circumstances test nor addressed any of the three factors identified in Cooper and Lord. Thus, the magistrate concluded that a writ of mandamus should be issued directing it to vacate its order determining relator to be the proper employer and to then issue an amended order specifically addressing the three Cooper-Lord factors.

{¶ 9} The commission and Kokosing each filed objections to the magistrate’s decision. Both parties argue that the SHO’s order did consider the totality of the circumstances in determining that relator was the proper employer and that the commission was not required to address each of the specific factors in reaching its decision. Additionally, both parties argue that because the SHO order cited some evidence in support of its conclusion and explained the reasoning for finding relator to be the proper employer for purposes of the industrial claim at issue here, the commission cannot be said to have abused its discretion.

{¶ 10} We agree with the objections made by the parties. There is no exhaustive list of factors to be used when determining whether an injury was [693]*693incurred in the course of, and arose from, a claimant’s employment and thus is compensable under the workers’ compensation system. Fisher v. Mayfield (1990), 49 Ohio St.3d 275, 551 N.E.2d 1271. We believe that this principle applies in cases such as this one, in which the issue is the identification of the proper employer. The three factors identified in Lord and Cooper, while helpful to making this determination, are not exhaustive, and we do not believe that the commission must be required to apply the factors in every case in which the identity of the correct employer is uncertain.

{¶ 11} In this case, the SHO did not specifically refer to the totality-of-the-circumstances test. However, a reading of the SHO’s order shows that consideration was given to the circumstances regarding claimant’s performance of traffic control. Specifically, the SHO cited the facts that claimant was selected for the traffic-control duty by virtue of his employment with the Oakwood Police Department, that claimant was provided an Oakwood police cruiser to sit in while performing this duty, and that claimant wore his Oakwood police uniform while performing traffic control. The SHO concluded that these facts were sufficient to establish that but for claimant’s employment by the Oakwood Police Department, he would not have been present at the scene of the accident.

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Related

State v. Easterling
2019 Ohio 2470 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2019)
Jones v. Smith Transport
2012 Ohio 692 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2012)
State ex rel. Oakwood v. Indus. Comm.
946 N.E.2d 238 (Ohio Supreme Court, 2011)

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Bluebook (online)
943 N.E.2d 1083, 190 Ohio App. 3d 689, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-village-of-oakwood-v-industrial-commission-ohioctapp-2010.