578 N.E.2d 496 | Ohio Ct. App. | 1989
R.C.A. Rubber Company ("R.C.A.") appeals the decision of the trial court, which overruled R.C.A.'s motion to dismiss, suasponte reversed the decision of the Industrial Commission ("commission"), and remanded the cause to the commission for further proceedings. We reverse and remand with instructions.
William A. Beeler ("Beeler"), appellee herein, filed an occupational disease claim under R.C.
The Canton Regional Board of Review found that Beeler's claim had been properly allowed for eczematous dermatitis, but modified the district hearing officer's order by disallowing temporary total disability compensation. The commission thereafter affirmed the modified order.
Beeler appealed the commission's ruling to the Court of Common Pleas of Summit County, pursuant to R.C.
R.C.A. claims that the trial court's decision to sua sponte reverse the decision and remand the case to the commission constituted the granting of a summary judgment in favor of Beeler, thus controverting Civ.R. 56(C), as neither party moved for summary judgment on the complaint. Beeler argues that the trial court did not grant summary judgment pursuant to Civ.R. 56(C), but rather exercised "* * * the Court's inherent power to reverse and vacate the administrative decision in question * * * [and] remand for further proceedings."
Beeler's argument is without support. R.C.
Our Supreme Court has ruled "* * * that a party who has not moved for summary judgment is not entitled to such an order * * *. Where no motion has been filed, and necessarily no evidence attached thereto, no conclusion, favorable or adverse, is properly available * * *. Nowhere is it intimated that a court may sua sponte enter summary judgment." Marshall v. Aaron
(1984),
R.C.A.'s first assignment of error is sustained. We proceed to address the remaining errors assigned.
R.C.A. essentially asserts that the trial court was without statutory jurisdiction to entertain Beeler's appeal. We agree.
R.C.
"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
Beeler argues that the commission's ruling was not a decision concerning extent of disability, but rather affected his ability to participate in the fund. R.C.A. asserts that Beeler's right to participate in the fund was in fact established in Beeler's favor, and that the commission's denial of temporary total disability compensation related to Beeler's extent of disability, and not his right to fund participation.
Beeler ignores the fact that he indeed participated in the fund. The commission ordered that the medical costs associated with his allowed claim for eczematous dermatitis be paid. Once a claimant's right to participate in the fund for a specific condition has been determined, any further determination by the commission as to the computation of compensation payable reflects the extent of disability, and not the existence, and is not appealable pursuant to R.C.
The trial court was therefore without subject matter jurisdiction over Beeler's appeal, and erred by not granting R.C.A.'s motion to dismiss thereon. Accordingly, R.C.A.'s second assignment of error is sustained. *178
Based upon our disposition of the preceding assignments of error, we sustain R.C.A.'s third assignment of error.
Because we hold that the trial court was without subject matter jurisdiction to entertain Beeler's attempted appeal, and that the court further erred by granting summary judgment in favor of a non-moving party, in contravention of Civ.R. 56(C), it necessarily follows that the court erred by remanding the cause erroneously before it to the commission for further proceedings. R.C.
Judgment reversedand cause remanded.
CACIOPPO, P.J., and BAIRD, J., concur.