United Parcel Service, Inc. v. Rice

446 N.E.2d 184, 4 Ohio App. 3d 4, 4 Ohio B. 23, 1982 Ohio App. LEXIS 10948
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 19, 1982
DocketL-81-257
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 446 N.E.2d 184 (United Parcel Service, Inc. v. Rice) 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
United Parcel Service, Inc. v. Rice, 446 N.E.2d 184, 4 Ohio App. 3d 4, 4 Ohio B. 23, 1982 Ohio App. LEXIS 10948 (Ohio Ct. App. 1982).

Opinions

Potter, J.

United Parcel Service, the employer of Herbert Rice, Jr., appeals from the judgment of the Lucas County Court of Common Pleas which granted summary judgment for Rice and dismissed the employer’s appeal to the common pleas court. We affirm.

In May 1976, Rice fell down a flight of stairs while at work and injured his lower back. Rice filed a workers’ compensation claim which was recognized by the employer, United Parcel Service. He was granted temporary total disability compensation from the date of injury until July (3, 1976, when Rice returned to fulltime employment. During January 1977, Rice complained of lower back pains and was unable to work. United Parcel Service granted Rice additional disability benefits from January 24,1977, until May 4, 1977. On or about August 10, 1977, Rice filed an application to reactivate his claim.

United Parcel Service contested the claim, alleging that the disability was related to a congenital physical condition and not to the May 1976 injury and claim.

A hearing was held on April 27,1978, before a district hearing officer of the *5 Bureau of Workers’ Compensation. The district hearing officer granted Rice’s application to reactivate his claim for additional medical benefits and temporary total disability compensation. United Parcel Service appealed this decision to the Toledo Regional Board of Review which vacated the district hearing officer’s order. The claimant, Rice, filed an appeal with the Industrial Commission. The commission ordered the reinstatement of the district hearing officer’s decision and vacated the decision of the regional board of review. The Industrial Commission granted temporary total compensation from May 4, 1977, to October 31, 1977, and further ordered that the claim be referred to the Toledo District Office for consideration of temporary partial compensation from November 1, 1977, to the present.

United Parcel Service appealed the decision of the Industrial Commission to the Lucas County Court of Common Pleas pursuant to R.C. 4123.519. Claimant Rice filed his petition and thereafter filed a motion for summary judgment which the trial court denied on August 10, 1981. Claimant filed a motion to reconsider the denial of the motion for summary judgment which the trial court granted, finding that in light of Hospitality Motor Inns, Inc., v. Gillespie (1981), 66 Ohio St. 2d 206 [20 O.O.3d 209], the decision was not appealable under R.C. 4123.519. Claimant was granted attorney’s fees and the cause was dismissed. United Parcel Service appeals the trial court’s judgment, and files the following assignments of error:

“The trial court erred in granting defendant-appellee’s Motion for Summary Judgment and request for attorney fees since the decision of the Industrial Commission appealed from herein is properly characterized as a ruling on causation and not ‘extent of disability.’ ”

The issue presented on appeal involves the interpretation of R.C. 4123.519 which, in pertinent part, provides as follows:

“The claimant or the employer may appeal a decision of the industrial commission or of its staff hearing officer made pursuant to division (B)(6) of section 4121.35 of the Revised Code in any injury or occupational disease case, other than a decision as to the extent of disability, to the court of common pleas of the county in which the injury was inflicted or in which the contract of employment was made if the injury occurred outside the state * * *.”

United Parcel Service alleges on appeal that although Rice’s claim is, in form, the reactivation of a prior allowable claim, it is, in substance, a new period of disability resulting from a congenital problem. United Parcel Service, citing Gilbert v. Midland-Ross (1981), 67 Ohio St. 2d 267 [21 O.O.3d 168], contends that the common pleas court has jurisdiction to hear this appeal pursuant to R.C. 4123.519 since the issue presents a question of causation which involves the right of the claimant to participate or to continue to participate in the fund, and not a question of “extent of disability.”

Zavatsky v. Stringer (1978), 56 Ohio St. 2d 386 [10 O.O.2d 503], provides an extensive analysis for determining whether the decision of the Industrial Commission involves the “extent of disability” or the “right to participate.” The court, in paragraphs one and two of the syllabus, stated the following:

“1. An order of the Industrial Commission, which either denies or allows a claimant the right to participate in the Workers’ Compensation Fund for injury to a specific part or parts of the body involving loss or impairment of bodily functions on the basis that such was or was not the result of a compensable injury, is a decision other than one as to the extent of disability and, thus, pursuant to R.C. 4123.519, may be appealed to the Court of Common Pleas by the claimant in the *6 event of such a denial, or by the employer in the event of such an allowance.
“2. A determination of ‘extent of disability’ under R.C. 4123.519 presupposes that claimant has been allowed the ‘right to participate’ in the Workers’ Compensation Fund for injury to a specific part or parts of the body involving the loss or impairment of bodily functions. The decision of the Industrial Commission as to ‘extent of disability’ constitutes a determination of the basis for the computation of the compensation or benefits payable under the provisions of the workers’ compensation law for those losses or impairments of bodily functions allowed as compensable injuries.”

In the case sub judice, claimant had a previously allowed compensable injury for his lower back. Claimant alleges that the application to reactivate his claim involves the same injury and is a request for additional compensation for an allowed claim. Claimant therefore alleges that according to the language of Zavatsky v. Stringer, supra, the Industrial Commission’s decision merely determined the “basis for the computation of the compensation or benefits payable * * * for those losses or impairments of bodily functions allowed as compensable injuries.” Claimant, therefore, alleges that in accordance with Hospitality Motor Inns, Inc., v. Gillespie, supra, the commission’s ruling is not ap-pealable pursuant to R.C. 4123.519.

We agree with claimant and find the case of Hospitality Motor Inns, Inc., v. Gillespie, supra, controlling in the case sub judice. The arguments presented by United Parcel Service were also raised in Gillespie, and the court, at 211-212, responded as follows:

“Appellant argues that it is this question of such ‘causal relationship’ which it is raising in this appeal, and, therefore, appeal should lie. Appellant’s argument would be effective if this appeal had been from the original decision awarding compensation or if claimant was seeking benefits for a new disability. However, neither situation prevails in the instant cause.

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Bluebook (online)
446 N.E.2d 184, 4 Ohio App. 3d 4, 4 Ohio B. 23, 1982 Ohio App. LEXIS 10948, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-parcel-service-inc-v-rice-ohioctapp-1982.