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information is provided courtesy of the Ohio Workers'
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Injured
Worker with Psychiatric Only Claim Can Sue Employer for Negligence
Bunger
v. Lawson Co. (8/5/98), 82 Ohio
St.3d 463:
In Bunger v. Lawson Co. the Supreme Court
has found that an injured worker who suffers a psychiatric only injury
can sue the employer for negligence.
Under Ohio's law such a claim is not compensable as an
injury because R.C. 4123.01(C) excludes psychiatric only claims. The
Supreme Court ignored a constitutional challenge to this exclusion.
Instead, the Court held that the provisions of the
Workers' Compensation law which provide an employer with immunity from
a negligence suit by an employee for injuries sustained in their
employment do not apply where the type of injury is not covered under
the Workers' Compensation Law.
The Supreme Court held in the syllabus of this case:
R.C. 4123.01(C) and 4123.74 do not foreclose an
employee who has suffered purely psychological injuries from pursuing a
common-law remedy against his or her employer.
The majority ignored the issue of whether or not the
exclusion of psychiatric only claims from the workers' compensation
system was constitutional. The Supreme Court has never ruled on the
issue of whether the exclusion of psychiatric only claims violates the
constitution. This was the basis of Justice Douglas' dissent:
I dissent from the decision of the majority because,
in my judgment, the provisions of R.C. Chapter 4123 that attempt to
exclude purely psychological injuries from compensability under the
Workers' Compensation Act violate principles of equal protection. There
is no rational justification for allowing workers' compensation
benefits for broken bones but not for broken minds. I would hold that
if appellant can show a mental injury, then appellant has protection
under the Workers' Compensation Act and, thus, has entitlement to
workers' compensation benefits for her purely psychological injuries.
Subjecting Ohio employers to civil liability in such cases is clearly
not the answer.
Click on the case name
to view the decision on
the Supreme
Court's web site.
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