Ohio Supreme Court Hits the Gas on “Direct Causation” Analysis in Temporary Total Disability in AutoZone
When the Ohio legislature enacted §4123.56(F) on September 15, 2020, it superseded any prior judicial decisions applying the doctrine of “voluntary abandonment” – a legal doctrine holding that when a claimant’s departure from the workplace was “voluntary” and for reasons unrelated to the industrial injury, the claimant was ineligible for temporary total disability (TTD). The text of the statute R.C. §4123.56(F) provides:
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 to the doctrine of voluntary abandonment to a claim brought under this section.
As we previously discussed in our September 11, 2020 client alert, the amended statute expressly wiped out all prior case law regarding the voluntary abandonment doctrine.
Frantz Ward’s December 21, 2023 client alert detailed the first case to address this change, State of Ohio ex rel. AutoZone Stores Inc. v. Indus. Comm., 10th Dist. No. 21AP-294, 2023-Ohio-633. In AutoZone, the claimant was working light duty and was subsequently terminated for an altercation with a co-worker. Following claimant’s termination, he had surgery for the allowed condition of his claim and was certified to return to light duty following. Claimant then requested TTD which was ultimately awarded by the Industrial Commission. AutoZone appealed this ruling.
At the time, the 10th District ruled that an injured worker was entitled to TTD despite being terminated from his job for disciplinary reasons. The appellate court:
- held that a claimant’s entitlement for TTD is predicated on claimant’s inability to work stemming from an impairment arising from an injury and
- declined to address whether the claimant must prove himself unable to work solely due to an injury from the industrial accident.
This matter was subsequently appealed to the Ohio Supreme Court, who recently published their decision, State ex rel. AutoZone Stores, Inc. v. Indus. Comm., Slip Opinion No. 2024-Ohio-5519, holding that the statutory language contains a “direct result” requirement, and lost wages must be a “direct result” of the industrial injury and cannot be a “direct result” of reasons outside the industrial injury. The Supreme Court further held that the appellate court failed to give effect to the second sentence of the statute, which notes a claimant is not eligible for TTD when they have suffered wage loss as a direct result of reasons unrelated to the allowed injury.
Employment is a “fundamental tenet” of TTD compensation such that when an injured worker is not working as a direct result of something other than their allowed condition, there are no compensable lost earnings. In AutoZone, claimant had been fired prior to his request for TTD. Thus, his inability to work stemmed directly from something other than his allowed injury.
In sum, the Ohio Supreme Court in AutoZone found that claimants are not entitled to TTD when they are not working as a direct result of reasons unrelated to their allowed conditions. This is a welcomed revelation for Ohio employers, who now may not be on the hook for TTD when an injured worker is unable to work as a direct result of reasons unrelated to the injury, such as termination.
Workers’ compensation claims are very fact-specific and determined on a case-by-case basis. Please contact Frantz Ward’s Workers’ Compensation attorneys with questions regarding this ruling’s implications on pending cases where TTD has been requested after separation from employment or claims where TTD has been already granted by the Industrial Commission after separation from employment.
