Case Title: State ex rel. Kitts v. Mancan, Inc.

Citation: 2002-Ohio-788

Docket Number: 19991938

State: ohio

Court: Ohio Supreme Court

Date: 2002-02-13T00:00:00Z

Document:
[Cite as State ex rel. Kitts v. Mancan, Inc., 94 Ohio St.3d 245, 2002-Ohio-788.] 
 
 
THE STATE EX REL. KITTS, APPELLANT, v. MANCAN, INC. ET AL., APPELLEES. 
[Cite as State ex rel. Kitts v. Mancan, Inc. (2002), 94 Ohio St.3d 245.] 
Workers’ compensation — Court of appeals’ judgment affirmed. 
(No. 99-1938 — Submitted December 11, 2001 — Decided February 13, 2002.) 
APPEAL from the Court of Appeals for Franklin County, No. 98AP-1281. 
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The judgment of the court of appeals is affirmed. 
 
MOYER, C.J., DOUGLAS, F.E. SWEENEY, COOK and LUNDBERG STRATTON, 
JJ., concur. 
 
RESNICK and PFEIFER, JJ., dissent. 
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PFEIFER, J., dissenting. I agree with the majority’s implicit ruling that 
Kitts can be fired for refusing a drug test.  Irrespective of his refusal to be tested, 
however, Kitts should not be disqualified from receiving an appropriate level of 
compensation for his injuries. 
 
Kitts’s dismissal, which is considered voluntary because he violated a 
company policy with knowledge that his conduct could result in discharge, 
precludes him from collecting compensation for temporary total disability.  State 
ex rel. McKnabb v. Indus. Comm. (2001), 92 Ohio St.3d 559, 752 N.E.2d 254.  
However, Kitts should be eligible to pursue compensation for permanent total 
disability, if his injuries warrant it.  See State ex rel. Reliance Elec. Co. v. Wright 
(2001), 92 Ohio St.3d 109, 111, 748 N.E.2d 1105, 1108 (voluntary abandonment 
of employment precludes permanent total disability award only when claimant 
abandons entire job market, e.g., by retiring).  The work-related nature of the 
injury is not at issue; the self-insured employer was ordered to pay Kitts’s medical 
expenses. 
SUPREME COURT OF OHIO 
2 
 
Manpower presented the following authorization statement to Kitts for his 
signature immediately prior to his scheduled drug test: 
 
“I understand that if I fail to pass the drug screening test I will be 
terminated immediately.  I also understand that I must submit to a substance abuse 
test upon claim to an injury or an accident, and that failure to submit to this test 
will result in immediate termination.  A delay in submitting to this test, or 
tampering with the test, will also result in my immediate termination.  If I fail to 
comply with this policy Manpower will not approve payment of my worker’s 
compensation claim.  If I fail to pass the drug screen, Manpower will not approve 
payment of my worker’s compensation claim.” 
 
Kitts refused to sign.  Presenting this misleading statement to Kitts for his 
signature was unscrupulous.  The statement implies that Manpower can prevent 
Kitts from receiving payments to which Kitts may be statutorily entitled. 
 
I dissent. 
 
RESNICK,  J., concurs in the foregoing dissenting opinion. 
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Barkan & Neff, L.P.A., and Robert E. DeRose, for appellant. 
 
Porter, Wright, Morris & Arthur, L.L.P., and Brian D. Hall, for appellee 
Mancan, Inc. 
 
Betty D. Montgomery, Attorney General, and Cheryl J. Nester, Assistant 
Attorney General, for appellee Industrial Commission of Ohio. 
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