62 Ohio St. 2d 414 | Ohio | 1980
In order to avoid the constitutional question determined by the trial court, the Court of Appeals construed the six-year limitation period of R. C. 4123.52 to be inapplicable to claimant. Though we affirm the Court of Appeals’ judgment, we reach the constitutional issue since the Court of Appeals erred in construing the statute.
Prior to January 1, 1979, R. C. 4123.52, in relevant part, provided:
“The jurisdiction of the industrial commission over each case shall be continuing, and the commission may make such modification or change with respect to former findings or orders with respect thereto, as, in its opinion is justified. No such modification or change nor any finding or award in respect of any claim shall be made with respect to disability, compensation, dependency, or benefits, after six years from the date of injury in the absence of the payment of compensation for total disability under section 4123.56 of the Revised Code, except in cases where compensation has been paid under section 4123.56, 4123.57, or 4123.58 of the Revised Code, then ten years from the date of the last payment of compensation or from the date of death***.”
Based on this provision,
The Court of Appeals determined that this six-year limitation period was inapplicable, based upon its determination that “compensation” within the meaning of R. C. 4123.52 “includes wages paid by an employer to a totally disabled
The Court of Appeals’ construction of R. C. 4123.52 is incorrect. Wages received from an employer are not disability compensation, nor are they paid under R. C. 4123.56, 4123.57 or 4123.58. Since the provision at issue unambiguously expresses the General Assembly’s intent, the Court of Appeals should have strictly construed and applied it. Provident Bank v. Wood (1973), 36 Ohio St. 2d 101, 105-106; Sears v. Weimer (1944), 143 Ohio St. 312, paragraph five of the syllabus. Thus, we hold that appellants correctly applied R. C. 4123.52 in ruling that they could not entertain claimant’s above application and requests.
II.
In his cross-appeal, claimant contends that R. C. 4123.52 as applied to claimant violates the Equal Protection Clause of Section 26 of Article II of the Ohio Constitution. The stipulated facts reveal that if claimant had not been paid wages in 1971, he would have received temporary total disability compensation under R. C. 4123.56, which would have empowered appellants to entertain claimant’s application and requests filed more than six years after the date of his injury. Thus, we must determine whether it is a violation of the Equal Protection Clause for appellants to refuse to entertain claimant’s application for disability compensation and requests for continued payment for medical expenses filed more than six years after the date of his injury for the sole reason that claimant, within six years from the date of his injury, accepted wages during his periods of temporary total disability in lieu of receiving disability compensation.
Under the Equal Protection Clauses of. the Ohio and United States Constitutions,
Notwithstanding the above judicial deference, we cannot uphold the classification at issue. The difference between a claimant who accepts wages in lieu of disability compensation and an otherwise similar claimant who rejects or is not offered wages during his disability (and is therefore paid temporary total disability compensation under R. C. 4123.56) is an arbitrary basis for determining whether a claimant’s entitlement will continue for more than six years after the date of his injury. We find no reasonable state of facts which will support this classification, nor have appellants offered any.
The judgment of the Court of Appeals is affirmed.
Judgment affirmed.
R. C. 4123.52 must be read in conjunction with R. C. 4123.84, which requires that a claimant file written notice with the bureau or commission within two years after injury or death describing the specific part or parts of the body so injured. R. C. 4123.84 further provides that the commission has continuing jurisdiction under R. C. 4123.52 over claims meeting this notice requirement.
If disability compensation has been awarded during this six-year period, the commission’s jurisdiction over a claim continues until “ten years from the date of last payment of [such] compensation.” R. C. 4123.52.
Effective January 1,1979, the General Assembly amended R. C. 4123.52 to include the payment of “wages in lieu of compensation” as an additional ground for avoiding the six-year limitation period.
“The limitations placed upon governmental action by the Equal Protection
Appellants’ reliance on Sechler v. Krouse (1978), 56 Ohio St. 2d 185, is misplaced. In Sechler the claimant did not apply for disability compensation within six years of the date of injury, and thus failed to meet a condition uniformly applicable to all claimants. In the instant cause, the claimant did apply within the above period but was denied compensation solely because he received wages in lieu of disability compensation during his disability.