Governor Mike DeWine signed Ohio House Bill 81 on June 16, 2021, codifying a significant change regarding eligibility for temporary total disability benefits (TTD) under Ohio Revised Code §4123.56(F). By enacting R.C. §4123.56(F), the legislature intended to leave behind decades of case law concerning the doctrine of voluntary abandonment. The new provision was meant to expand and simplify a defense to a request for TTD by dictating that an employee not working or suffering a wage loss as a direct result of reasons unrelated to the claim is not eligible to receive compensation.
Unfortunately, the intent to clarify has been anything but illuminating. R.C. §4123.56(F) reads: “If an employee is unable to work or suffers a wage loss as the direct result of an impairment arising from an injury or occupational disease, the employee is entitled to receive compensation under this section, provided the employee is otherwise qualified. If an employee is not working or has suffered a wage loss as the direct result of reasons unrelated to the allowed injury or occupational disease, the employee is not eligible to receive compensation under this section. It is the intent of the general assembly to supersede any previous judicial decision that applied the doctrine of voluntary abandonment to a claim brought under this section.”
While the provision reads simply enough, there is a difference in interpretation between the employer’s bar and the injured worker’s bar without much in the way...
Russian forces struck a Roshen production facility in Vinnytsia on October 12, the Ukrainian confectionery company officially confirmed. The attack triggered a fire at the civilian plant, which em...