2004 Ohio 2538 | Ohio Ct. App. | 2004
Lead Opinion
{¶ 2} "I. Under Ohio revised code [section]
{¶ 3} "II. R.C.
{¶ 4} "III. R.C.
{¶ 5} Appellee was employed by appellant and worked at a branch office. On August 4, 2001, appellee was working as a bank teller at the branch bank when the bank was robbed. The robber approached appellee's window and demanded money.
{¶ 6} This was not appellant's first robbery at the branch. A prior robbery occurred in December, 2000, while appellee was working as a customer service associate. However, appellee suffered no adverse affects or injuries from that robbery. Appellee was not physically injured during this robbery. As a result of the second robbery, appellee sought counseling and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
{¶ 7} Appellee filed an application for Workers' Compensation for post-traumatic stress disorder. Appellant, a self-insured employer, rejected the claim as non-compensable, relying upon R.C.
{¶ 8} Appellee appealed to the Industrial Commission of Ohio. The Commission refused the appeal without comment. Appellee then filed the action herein, pursuant to R.C.
{¶ 9} Appellant moved for summary judgment, arguing appellee was not entitled to participate in the Workers' Compensation Fund, pursuant to R.C.
{¶ 10} Civ. R. 56 states:
{¶ 11} (C) Motion and proceedings:
{¶ 12} "The motion shall be served at least fourteen days before the time fixed for hearing. The adverse party, prior to the day of hearing, may serve and file opposing affidavits. Summary judgment shall be rendered forthwith if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, written admissions, affidavits, transcripts of evidence, and written stipulations of fact, if any, timely filed in the action, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. No evidence or stipulation may be considered except as stated in this rule. A summary judgment shall not be rendered unless it appears from the evidence or stipulation, and only from the evidence or stipulation, that reasonable minds can come to but one conclusion and that conclusion is adverse to the party against whom the motion for summary judgment is made, that party being entitled to have the evidence or stipulation construed most strongly in the party's favor. A summary judgment, interlocutory in character, may be rendered on the issue of liability alone although there is a genuine issue as to the amount of damages. The parties agree the case presents no genuine issue of material fact, and thus the only question for us is how Ohio law applies to this set of circumstances.
{¶ 14} Art.
{¶ 15} "For the purpose of providing compensation to workmen and their dependents, for death, injuries or occupational disease, occasioned in the course of such workmen's employment, laws may be passed establishing a state fund to be created by compulsory contribution thereto by employers, and administered by the state, determining the terms and conditions upon which payment shall be made therefrom. Such compensation shall be in lieu of all other rights to compensation, or damages, for such death, injuries, or occupational disease, and any employer who pays the premium or compensation provided by law, passed in accordance herewith, shall not be liable to respond in damages at common law or by statute for such death, injuries or occupational disease. Laws may be passed establishing a board which may be empowered to classify all occupations, according to their degree of hazard, to fix rates of contribution to such fund according to such classification, and to collect, administer and distribute such fund, and to determine all rights of claimants thereto. Such board shall set aside as a separate fund such proportion of the contributions paid by employers as in its judgment may be necessary, not to exceed one per centum thereof in any year, and so as to equalize, insofar as possible, the burden thereof, to be expended by such board in such manner as may be provided by law for the investigation and prevention of industrial accidents and diseases. Such board shall have full power and authority to hear and determine whether or not an injury, disease or death resulted because of the failure of the employer to comply with any specific requirement for the protection of the lives, health or safety of employees, enacted by the general assembly or in the form of an order adopted by such board, and its decision shall be final; and for the purpose of such investigations and inquiries it may appoint referees. When it is found, upon hearing, that an injury, disease or death resulted because of such failure by the employer, such amount as shall be found to be just, not greater than fifty nor less than fifteen per centum of the maximum award established by law, shall be added by the board, to the amount of the compensation that may be awarded on account of such injury, disease, or death, and paid in like manner as other awards; and, if such compensation is paid from the state fund, the premium of such employer shall be increased in such amount, covering such period of time as may be fixed, as will recoup the state fund in the amount of such additional award, notwithstanding any and all other provisions in this constitution."
{¶ 16} Pursuant to Art. II, Section 35, The Ohio Legislature instituted Chapter 4123 of the Ohio Revised Code. R.C. 4123.01(C)(1) defines an injury, for purposes of the Workers' Compensation benefits, as: ". . . any injury, whether caused by external accidental means or accidental in character and result, received in the course of, and arising out of, the injured employee's employment. "Injury" does not include . . . [p]sychiatric conditions except where the conditions have arisen from an injury or occupational disease. . . ."
{¶ 17} Thus, historically, in order to obtain Workers' Compensation benefits for psychological injuries, the claimant was required to show the psychological injury arose from a physical injury to the claimant. Recently, however, the Ohio Supreme Court interpreted R.C.
{¶ 18} In this case, the parties agree that neither appellee nor a co-worker suffered a physical injury. The trial court found the plain, unambiguous meaning of the statute barred appellee's claim. We agree, and we observe but for the constitutional challenge to the statute, appellant would have prevailed in the trial court.
{¶ 19} We find appellant's first assignment of error is moot, because it does not address any error of the trial court, nor does it address the issue of this case, namely, the constitutionality of the statute as applied to this case.
{¶ 20} Appellant's second assignment of error concerns the constitutionality of R.C.
In Bailey, this court stated:
{¶ 21} We are mindful of the fundamental principle all legislative enactments are presumed constitutional. Adamsky v.Buckeye Local Sch. Dist. (1995),
{¶ 22} In Nyitray, supra, the Ohio Supreme Court explained the purpose of the Workers' Compensation Act. The Nyitray Court stated, "Ohio's Workers' Compensation System is predicated upon Section
{¶ 23} Relying on Kinney v. Kaiser Aluminum ChemicalCorp. (1975),
{¶ 24} In its Brief to this Court, Bank One relies upon a number of unreported decisions from other districts in which the rational basis test was applied to equal protection challenges to the denial of Workers' Compensation benefits to claimants with work related psychiatric conditions. In each case, the Courts of Appeals found: (1) the state has a legitimate interest in maintaining the self-supporting nature of its Workers' Compensation Fund; (2) the state has a legitimate interest in distributing the available resources to the disabilities determined by the state to be covered rather than to cover all disabilities inadequately; and (3) the state has a legitimate interest in maintaining a contribution rate at a level that will not unduly burden participating employers.
See, Chrisulis v. U.S.X. Corp., supra; Fields v. City ofYoungstown, supra; Neil v. Mayfield, supra; and Zaricki v.Laco Die Casting Co., supra. We find the "legitimate" governmental interests found by other appellate districts to be predicated solely upon economic or cost-based reasons. Thus, "it would appear that the only reason for retaining the alternate compensation scheme and denying compensation to the class represented by [appellant] is to reduce the cost to the Workers' Compensation System." Nyitray, supra at 177,
{¶ 25} Appellee has not proffered a non-economic rational basis to justify the disparate treatment. We find the denial of compensation of employees who suffer psychiatric conditions which do not arise from a compensable injury to or occupational disease suffered by that employee is inherently unfair and contrary to the purposes of compensating workers as set forth in Section
{¶ 26} "Upon review, we agree with our previous analysis inBailey and the reasoning of the trial court. We find no rational basis upon which to discriminate between psychological injuries arising from a physical injury to the claimant or a co-worker and those which are purely psychological in nature. Both have suffered a work related injury and both should be entitled to Workers' Compensation, assuming they can otherwise support their claim.
{¶ 27} In the third assignment of error, appellant contends R.C.
{¶ 28} In conclusion, we find that there is no rational reason to preclude psychological injuries which arise in the course and scope of a worker's employment from Workers' Compensation coverage simply because the psychological injury did not arise from a physical injury to the worker (claimant) or a co-worker. As such, this court finds that R.C.
{¶ 29} Each of the assignments of error is overruled.
{¶ 30} For the foregoing reasons, the judgment of the Court of Common Pleas of Stark County, Ohio, is affirmed.
Gwin, P.J., and Boggins, J. concur; Edwards J., dissents.
Dissenting Opinion
{¶ 30} I concur in the majority's disposition of appellant's first assignment of error. However, I respectfully dissent from the majority's analysis and disposition of the second and third assignment of error.
{¶ 31} I would find that R.C.
{¶ 32} The majority finds that such financial interests are not enough. Although I was a member of the Bailey panel, upon revisiting the issue, I would find that the cases relied upon inBailey and by this majority for the proposition that financial interests are not a rational basis for disparate treatment are factually distinguishable and inapplicable to the facts in this case. Here, the issue is whether the injuries suffered should be covered by workers' compensation. In Patterson and Nyitray, the injuries suffered were clearly covered by workers' compensation. The issues in those cases concerned the amount of benefit to which the claimants were entitled. Thus, when the Ohio Supreme Court stated that conserving funds was not a valid basis to deny compensation to those entitled, I believe it was saying that conservation of funds was not a valid reason to fail to pay benefits when it was at the expense of those who were otherwise entitled to compensation. See Liposchak v. Administrator Bureauof Workers' Compensation (2000),
{¶ 33} As to the third assignment of error, I would find that R.C.
{¶ 34} Accordingly, I would reverse the judgment of the trial court and remand the matter.