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Jenkins v. Administrator of the Bureau of Workers' Compensation6/27/2002
JUDGMENT AFFIRMED.
. Elizabeth Jenkins, individually and as administratrix of the estate of her deceased husband, John Jenkins, appeals from a judgment of the common pleas court which dismissed her workers' compensation case for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.
. On appeal to our court, Jenkins argues that Chapter 2305 of the Revised Code vests the trial court with jurisdiction to review her claims for enforcement of a settlement agreement in claim no. 2-353339 and for monetary damages in claim no. 99-622144. We disagree and conclude that the court properly dismissed her case for lack of jurisdiction. Accordingly, we affirm that judgment.
. The record reveals that, on August 30, 1963, John Jenkins injured his back and knee in the course and scope of his employment with T & B Foundry Company. In 1982, at the age of 62, he retired from this employment. Subsequently, he filed a workers' compensation claim, no. 2-353339, asserting permanent and total disability. The Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation agreed to settle this claim for a lump sum payment of $55,000. However, John Jenkins died from unrelated causes on March 29, 1999, before settlement had been completed.
. After his death, on May 18, 1999, the Bureau received a "BWC Amended Settlement Agreement and Release Application," purportedly from John Jenkins, but determined that it contained a forged signature. Further, the Bureau determined both that the settlement check made payable to John Jenkins had been endorsed and negotiated after his death, and that his representatives had concealed his death from the Bureau. Therefore, the Bureau vacated the settlement, declared a $55,000 overpayment, and ordered the overpayment collected pursuant to the fraud provisions of R.C. Chapter 4123. On further administrative appeal, the Industrial Commission of Ohio affirmed that order.
. After her husband's death, Elizabeth Jenkins filed a second claim with the Bureau for death benefits in claim no. 99-622144, alleging that he died of asbestosis contracted in the course and scope of his employment with T & B Foundry. The Bureau denied this claim based on a lack of medical evidence, and the Industrial Commission affirmed that order.
. On August 8, 2001, Elizabeth Jenkins filed a notice of appeal and a complaint in common pleas court seeking declaratory and monetary relief in the amount of $55,000 for claim no. 2-353339 and $25,000 for claim no. 99-622144. On September 10, 2001, the Bureau filed a motion to dismiss these claims, asserting that the trial court lacked subject matter jurisdiction over them. In particular, the Bureau noted that the complaint did not seek the right to participate in the workers' compensation fund, but rather sought monetary damages. Further, the Bureau asserted that, as a state agency, the Ohio Court of Claims has exclusive jurisdiction over monetary claims against it. The trial court agreed, and on October 1, 2001, it granted the Bureau's motion to dismiss.
. Jenkins now appeals, raising one assignment of error for our review. It states:
. THAT THE LOWER COURT ERRED IN GRANTING THE DEFENDANT-ADMINISTRATOR'S MOTION TO DISMISS FOR LACK OF SUBJECT MATTER JURISDICTION AS THE APPEL ANT['S] APPEAL WAS PROPERLY BEFORE THE COURT.
. Jenkins maintains on appeal that the trial court erred in dismissing her case, urging that it had jurisdiction to hear this matter pursuant to R.C. Chapter 2305. The Bureau counters that the trial court's jurisdiction to review Industrial Commission orders is limited by R.C. 4123.512 to determining whether a claimant has a right to participate in the workers' compensation system.<
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