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Hillside Dairy Company v. Self-Insuring Employers Evaluation Board8/3/2000
Appellate Review by this Court.
Assignment of Error No. 5
The Trial Court Both Erred And Abused Its Decisional Discretion to Hillside Dairy Company's Prejudice By Overruling Its R.C. 119.12 Motion (Filed March 23, 1999) For Suspension And Stay of SIEEB's March 10, 1999 Order Pending the Determination of Hillside's R.C. 119.12 Appeal.
SIEEB is a three-member board created by statute consisting of a member of the Industrial Commission of Ohio, a member of the Ohio self-insurance association, and a representative of labor. R.C. 4123.352(A). For administrative purposes, SIEEB is part of the bureau of workers' compensation. Id. The purpose of SIEEB is to investigate and order corrective action with regard to complaints or allegations of misconduct against self-insuring employers or questions as to whether self-insuring employers continue to meet minimum standards. R.C. 4123.352(C).
SIEEB's determinations in this regard "need not be made by formal hearing but shall be issued in written form and contain the signature of at least two board members." Id. SIEEB may also conduct formal hearings pursuant to R.C. Chapter 119, and make recommendations to the administrator of workers' compensation for disciplining a self-insuring employer. Id. Where the board makes such recommendations to the administrator, "the administrator promptly and fully shall implement the recommendations." Id.
In its first assignment of error, Hillside argues the trial court had subject- matter jurisdiction over the appeal because the informal hearing findings amount to an adjudication under R.C. Chapter 119. R.C. 119.01(D) defines an "adjudication" as follows:
"Adjudication" means the determination by the highest or ultimate authority of an agency of the rights, duties, privileges, benefits, or legal relationships of a specified person, but does not include the issuance of a license in response to an application with respect to which no question is raised, nor other acts of a ministerial nature.
R.C. 119.12 provides, in relevant part, that: " ny party adversely affected by any order of an agency issued pursuant to an adjudication * may appeal from the order of the agency to the court of common pleas."
The informal hearing findings of March 10, 1999 do not constitute an adjudication within the meaning of R.C. 119.01(A). Under the procedure set forth in R.C. 4123.352(C), SIEEB conducted an informal hearing and ordered Hillside to take corrective action, to wit: to pay the employees' medical bills within thirty days of receiving the order. If Hillside fails to comply, it is only after a subsequent hearing, one conducted pursuant to R.C. Chapter 119 and the rules of the bureau, that SIEEB makes a recommendation to the administrator for discipline.
In this case, no hearing under R.C. Chapter 119 has taken place, no recommendation of discipline has been made to the administrator, and no final decision adverse to Hillside has been made. SIEEB's order was not one issued as a result of an R.C. Chapter 119 adjudication. Accordingly, the trial court was without jurisdiction to entertain Hillside's appeal. The first assignment of error is overruled. Our resolution of the first assignment of error is dispositive of the remaining assignments of error with the exception of the fourth assignment of error.
In the fourth assignment of error, Hillside argues the trial court should have first required SIEEB to submit a certified record of proceedings because the content of such a record was germane to and dispositive of the jurisdictional issue. The informal hearing findings were before the trial court and part of the record on appeal. It
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