Case Title: State ex rel. First Natl. Supermarkets, Inc. v. Indus. Comm.

Citation: 1996-Ohio-149

Docket Number: 19941418

State: ohio

Court: Ohio Supreme Court

Date: 1996-03-01T00:00:00Z

Document:
The State ex rel. First National Supermarkets, Inc., Appellee, v. Industrial 
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Commission of Ohio et al., Appellants. 
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[Cite as State ex rel. First Natl. Supermarkets, Inc. v. Indus. Comm. (1996), 
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_____ Ohio St.3d _____.] 
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Workers’ compensation -- Handicap reimbursement for temporary 
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total disability compensation -- Request for reimbursement 
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made after company opts out of program for outlays made 
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before the opt-out date -- Industrial Commission abuses its 
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discretion in denying reimbursement. 
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(No. 94-1418--Submitted January 9, 1996--Decided March 1, 1996.) 
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Appeal from the Court of Appeals for Franklin County, No. 
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93APD08-1203. 
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Appellee, First National Supermarkets, Inc. (“FNS”), is a self-insured 
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employer.  In 1983, an FNS worker, who was a handicapped worker within 
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the meaning of R.C. 4123.343, sustained an industrial injury.  FNS, in turn, 
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filed for handicap reimbursement for the compensation and benefits paid as 
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a result.  A seventy-percent reimbursement was granted by appellant 
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Industrial Commission of Ohio. 
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Effective August 22, 1986, statutory amendments to R.C. 4123.343 
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significantly changed the handicap reimbursement system.  Am. Sub. S.B. 
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No. 307, 141 Ohio Laws, Part I, 718.  One of these changes afforded, for the 
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first time, an opportunity for self-insured employers to opt out of the 
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handicap reimbursement program.  R.C. 4123.343(G), 141 Ohio Laws, Part 
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I, 745. 
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On November 22, 1989, appellant Administrator, Ohio Bureau of 
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Workers’ Compensation, wrote to FNS and stated: 
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“Our records indicate that your company has not executed an election 
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to withdraw from the handicap reimbursement program.  If you would like 
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to withdraw from the handicap reimbursement program, effective January 1, 
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1990, please complete the election form appended *** no later than 
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December 31, 1989.  ***  Please be advised that these elections to withdraw 
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are irrevocable.  Any claim payments you make through December 31, 
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1989, that are eligible for handicap reimbursement, must be submitted on C-
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174[s] and must also be received by December 31, 1989. ***” 
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By a form dated December 19, 1989, FNS informed the bureau that it 
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was withdrawing from the program effective January 1, 1990. 
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In November 1990 and again in July 1991, FNS submitted to the 
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bureau C-174 “Self-Insured Semi-Annual Report of Claim Payments” forms 
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that sought handicap reimbursement for temporary total disability 
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compensation paid from March 31, 1989 through December 7, 1990.  The 
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commission denied reimbursement. 
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FNS filed a complaint in mandamus in the Court of Appeals for 
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Franklin County, alleging that the commission abused its discretion in 
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denying reimbursement.  The appellate court found that FNS could not be 
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reimbursed for expenditures made after the opt-out date.  FNS was, 
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however, entitled to reimbursement for expenditures made while FNS was 
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participating in the program.  The court wrote: 
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“We acknowledge that the commission informed self-insured 
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employers who opted out that the employers needed to file applications for 
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reimbursement prior to the opt-out date or lose the right to reimbursement.  
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However, we are unwilling to make a company’s right to reimbursement 
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contingent solely on the date the paperwork is received by the commission.” 
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This cause is now before this court upon an appeal as of right. 
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Greiner, Carolin & Spector and Thomas M. Carolin, for appellee. 
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Betty D. Montgomery, Attorney General, and Gerald H. Waterman, 
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Assistant Attorney General, for appellants. 
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Per Curiam.  FNS did not file a cross-appeal with respect to the lower 
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court’s denial of reimbursement for expenditures made after FNS’s January 
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1, 1990 opt-out.  Only one question is, therefore, presented:  Was the court 
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of appeals correct in finding FNS eligible for reimbursement of 
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expenditures made prior to opt-out even though the applications for 
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reimbursement were not made until after FNS had left the handicap 
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program?  For the reasons to follow, we agree with the decision of the court 
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of appeals. 
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The commission’s denial of reimbursement is premised on State ex 
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rel. First Natl. Supermarkets, Inc. v. Indus. Comm. (1994), 70 Ohio St.3d 
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582, 639 N.E.2d 1185.  That decision, however, involved the employer’s 
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request for reimbursement for expenditures arising after opt-out.  In this 
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case, FNS seeks reimbursement for outlays made before opt-out--when the 
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employer was still actively participating in the handicap reimbursement 
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program.  Accordingly, the earlier decision does not control and does not 
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bar reimbursement for FNS’s preopt-out expenses. 
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The judgment of the court of appeals is affirmed. 
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Judgment affirmed. 
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MOYER, C.J., DOUGLAS, WRIGHT, RESNICK, F.E. SWEENEY, PFEIFER 
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and COOK, JJ., concur. 
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