Title: State ex rel. Williams v. Coca-Cola Ents., Inc.

State: ohio

Issuer: Ohio Supreme Court

Document:

[Cite as State ex rel. Williams v. Coca-Cola Ents., Inc., 111 Ohio St.3d 491, 2006-Ohio-6112.] 
 
 
THE STATE EX REL. WILLIAMS, APPELLANT, v. COCA-COLA ENTERPRISES, 
INC., ET. AL., APPELLEES. 
[Cite as State ex rel. Williams v. Coca-Cola Ents., Inc., 111 Ohio St.3d 491, 
2006-Ohio-6112.] 
Workers’ compensation – Voluntary retirement forecloses award of temporary 
total disability. 
(No. 2005-1945 – Submitted September 19, 2006 – Decided December 6, 2006.) 
APPEAL from the Court of Appeals for Franklin County, 
No. 04AP-1270, 2005-Ohio-5085. 
__________________ 
Per Curiam. 
{¶ 1} A single issue is presented:  Does a claimant’s retirement due to 
nonindustrial health problems constitute an involuntary departure so as to 
preserve eligibility for temporary total disability compensation?  We hold that it 
does not. 
{¶ 2} Appellant, Charlie L. Williams, injured his left knee in early 2001 
while working for appellee Coca-Cola Enterprises, Inc.  A meniscal tear was 
surgically repaired, and he returned to his former position of employment in June 
2001. 
{¶ 3} In late 2001, Dr. Michael J. Lawley, continued to report weakness 
and pain in Williams’s left knee.  On December 27, 2001, and February 6, 2002, 
Dr. Lawley noted that Williams would “need total knee arthroplasty at a later 
date.” 
{¶ 4} In early 2002, Williams was diagnosed with a right leg thrombosis 
unrelated to his industrial injury.  The condition was severe enough to remove 
him from work on March 1, 2002, and prompted his decision to take a regular 
SUPREME COURT OF OHIO 
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length-of-service retirement, effective June 1, 2002.  In late April, Williams was 
diagnosed with a nonindustrial heart condition and had heart bypass surgery 
shortly thereafter. 
{¶ 5} On January 16, 2003, Williams’s left knee was replaced, and a 
second knee surgery followed in February 2004.  He eventually sought temporary 
total disability compensation for the knee injury.  Appellee Industrial Commission 
of Ohio denied compensation after finding that Williams’s departure from his 
former position of employment was unrelated to his industrial injury and hence 
voluntary.  This, in turn, foreclosed temporary total disability compensation. 
{¶ 6} Williams filed a complaint in mandamus in the Court of Appeals 
for Franklin County.  The court agreed that Williams had voluntarily retired and 
thus could not receive temporary total disability compensation.  State ex rel. 
Williams v. Coca-Cola Ents., Inc., Franklin App. No. 04AP-1270, 2005-Ohio-
5085, ¶ 13. 
{¶ 7} This cause is now before this court on an appeal as of right. 
{¶ 8} An involuntary retirement does not foreclose temporary total 
disability compensation.  State ex rel. Rockwell Internatl. v. Indus. Comm. (1988), 
40 Ohio St.3d 44, 531 N.E.2d 678.  But while Williams’s retirement may have 
been involuntary in the sense that it was due to circumstances beyond his control, 
it lacks the element that would preserve his eligibility for temporary total 
disability compensation – a causal relationship to his industrial injury.  Id.  
Accordingly, the commission did not abuse its discretion in denying temporary 
total disability compensation. 
{¶ 9} The judgment of the court of appeals is affirmed. 
Judgment affirmed. 
 
MOYER, C.J., RESNICK, PFEIFER, LUNDBERG STRATTON, O’CONNOR, 
O’DONNELL and LANZINGER, JJ., concur. 
__________________ 
January Term, 2006 
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Casper & Casper and Douglas W. Casper, for appellant. 
Jim Petro, Attorney General, and Charissa D. Payer, Assistant Attorney 
General, for appellee Industrial Commission. 
Vorys, Sater, Seymour & Pease, L.L.P., and Rosemary D. Welsh, for 
appellee Coca-Cola Enterprises, Inc. 
______________________