MEASLES ET AL., APPELLEES, v. INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION OF OHIO ET AL., APPELLANTS.
No. 2010-0393
Supreme Court of Ohio
Submitted February 1, 2011—Decided April 6, 2011.
128 Ohio St.3d 458, 2011-Ohio-1523
Reminger Co., L.P.A., George S. Coakley, and John P. O‘Neil, for respondent.
{¶ 1} The Ohio Industrial Commission and the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (“BWC“) appeal from a decision of the Eighth District Court of Appeals finding that plaintiffs-appellees’ claim for restitution under a contract for lump-sum advancement was a claim in equity, not law, and therefore could properly proceed before the common pleas court.
{¶ 2} We are asked to determine whether appellees’ claim for restitution sounds in equity or in law. If the claim is equitable, it may be brought in a court of common pleas. However, if the claim is a claim at law for money damages, the Court of Claims has exclusive jurisdiction. Because appellees seek, among other things, restitution as a remedy at law, this case must proceed under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Court of Claims. Therefore, we reverse.
Facts and Procedural History
{¶ 3} Appellees, Powell Measles, Vada Measles, and Ann Pocaro, suffered permanent total disability from work-related injuries and became entitled to weekly payments of disability benefits for life, pursuant to
{¶ 4} Each appellee signed and submitted to the commission an application for a lump-sum payment before receiving advancements. The applications contained the following provision:
“In the event this Lump Sum Payment is granted it will result in a permanent reduction of weekly benefits which shall continue for the life of the claim.”1
Powell Measles applied for advancements in 1986 and 1987. Vada Measles applied in 1984 and 1985. Ann Pocaro applied in 1995. The commission approved each of the applications, disbursed the lump-sum advancements, and reduced the workers’ ongoing benefit payments accordingly.
{¶ 6} The trial court granted defendants-appellants’ motion to dismiss for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. Citing Cristino v. Ohio Bur. of Workers’ Comp., 118 Ohio St.3d 151, 2008-Ohio-2013, 886 N.E.2d 857, the court explained that “[a] claim based on a[n] LSA made pursuant to
Analysis
{¶ 7} Our narrow focus is on whether appellees can pursue their claims against the state in the court of common pleas or whether the Court of Claims has exclusive jurisdiction. Courts of common pleas generally enjoy jurisdiction over, among other things, civil disputes with more than $500 in controversy.
{¶ 8} Because appellees’ prayers for declaratory and equitable relief sound classically in equity, jurisdiction of their action turns on whether the claim for
{¶ 9} On the one hand, the court explained, an action in law for restitution is “a claim in which the plaintiff ‘could not assert title or right to possession of particular property, but in which nevertheless he might be able to show just grounds for recovering money to pay for some benefit the defendant had received from him.‘” Id. at ¶ 8, quoting Great-West Life & Annuity Ins. Co. v. Knudson (2002), 534 U.S. 204, 213, 122 S.Ct. 708, 151 L.Ed.2d 635, quoting 1 Dobbs, Law of Remedies (2d Ed.1993) 571, Section 4.2(1). A claim for restitution relating to a contract dispute, for example, constitutes an action in law. Ohio Hosp. Assn., 62 Ohio St.3d at 104, 579 N.E.2d 695 (“The claims for violation of the provider agreements and an earlier settlement agreement are within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Court of Claims to the extent that [plaintiffs] alleged that their contractual rights have been violated and seek monetary relief“). On the other hand, an action in equity for restitution is “one in which ‘money or property identified as belonging in good conscience to the plaintiff could clearly be traced to particular funds or property in the defendant‘s possession.‘” Cristino, 118 Ohio St.3d 151, 2008-Ohio-2013, 886 N.E.2d 857, ¶ 8, quoting Great-West Life & Annuity at 213. Such an action may arise, for example, when a claim relates to a statutory right. Ohio Academy of Nursing Homes v. Ohio Dept. of Job & Family Servs., 114 Ohio St.3d 14, 2007-Ohio-2620, 867 N.E.2d 400, ¶ 15-19. If the essence of a claim is not of restitution for money owed under a contract, but instead restitution for the state‘s unjust enrichment by withholding funds to which a worker had a statutory right, then the ultimate relief sought is equitable restitution. Id. Because Cristino‘s dispute related to the effect of a term in his lump-sum-advancement agreement, we found that his action sounded in law and belonged before the Court of Claims. Cristino at ¶ 11 (“A claim against the state for money due under a contract is not a claim of equitable restitution and must be brought in the Ohio Court of Claims“).
{¶ 10} Appellees urge us not to apply Cristino; rather, they would have us rely on Santos v. Ohio Bur. of Workers’ Comp., 101 Ohio St.3d 74, 2004-Ohio-28, 801 N.E.2d 441. Like Cristino, Santos considered jurisdiction over a claim for restitution in a complaint lodged by an injured worker against the state. Unlike Cristino, however, Santos did not concern benefits paid pursuant to a lump-sum advancement. Instead, in Santos the injured workers sought to recoup money
{¶ 11} Cristino controls the present appeal. Like the plaintiffs in Cristino, appellees propose a class action to dispute the effect of a lump-sum advancement agreement they signed with the state. Like the plaintiffs in Cristino, appellees pray for equitable remedies as well as restitution of money wrongfully withheld. Like the plaintiffs in Cristino, appellees want their claims to be heard by a court of common pleas, not the Court of Claims. And, just like the plaintiffs in Cristino, appellees argue that their action belongs in the court of common pleas under the reasoning of Santos.
{¶ 12} Appellees strive to steer our analysis toward the issue of whether BWC currently violates
Conclusion
{¶ 13} When an injured worker contracts to receive a lump-sum advancement in lieu of part of an income stream of benefits for permanent total disability and later seeks to recover funds allegedly wrongfully withheld from that income stream as having been commuted to the lump sum, that claim is for money due under a contract and must be pursued in the Ohio Court of Claims. Because appellees dispute the effect of their lump-sum-advancement agreements, the court of common pleas has no jurisdiction to hear their claims. We reverse the court of appeals and reinstate the trial court‘s order dismissing appellees’ claims for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction.
Judgment reversed.
O‘CONNOR, C.J., and PFEIFER, LUNDBERG STRATTON, O‘DONNELL, LANZINGER, and CUPP, JJ., concur.
Michael DeWine, Attorney General, Alexandra T. Schimmer, Chief Deputy Solicitor General, Emily S. Schlesinger, Deputy Solicitor, Elise Porter, Assistant Solicitor, and Jeffrey B. Duber and Mark Mastrangelo, Assistant Attorneys General, for appellants.