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Evans v. Visiting Nurse Association8/8/1996
JUDGMENT: Affirmed.
Appellant, Delores Evans, appeals the dismissal of her administrative appeal in favor of appellees, Visiting Nurse Association, Barbara Knapic, Administrator of the Bureau of Workers' Compensation, and the Industrial Commission of Ohio. Evans assigns the following error for our review:
THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN GRANTING DEFENDANT- APPELLEE'S MOTION TO DISMISS WHEN OHIO LAW DOES NOT REQUIRE A CLAIMANT TO PURSUE FUTILE ADMINISTRATIVE REMEDIES.
Having reviewed the record of the proceedings and the legal arguments presented by the parties, we affirm the decision of the Common Pleas Court. The apposite facts follow.
Delores Evans filed a claim for Workers' Compensation benefits with the Industrial Commission of Ohio. A hearing was held before a District Hearing Officer. The officer found the Evan's injury did not arise out of the course of her injury and disallowed the claim. On appeal, the Staff Hearing Officer affirmed the District Officer's ruling.
Evans directly appealed the decision of the Staff Hearing Officer to the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas. Visiting Nurse Association moved to dismiss the appeal on the grounds that Evans failed to exhaust her administrative remedies because she failed to file an appeal with the Industrial Commission of Ohio before filing directly with the Court of Common Pleas. The motion was granted and this appeal followed.
In her sole assignment of error, Evans argues the common pleas court erred in dismissing her appeal because she failed to first appeal to the Industrial Commission of Ohio. Evans reasons an appeal to the Commission would have been futile and litigants need not exhaust administrative remedies if such an act would be futile. Therefore, the sole issue before this court is whether, as a matter of law, failure to appeal a decision of a Staff Hearing Officer to the industrial commission is a jurisdictional bar to an appeal to the Court of Common Pleas. Thus, this court's standard of review is de novo.
R.C. Chapter 4123.511 and 4123.512 set forth the appeal process for Workers' Compensation claims. R.C. 4123.511(E) provides: "Upon the filing of a timely appeal of the order of the staff hearing officer issued under division (D) of this section, the commission shall determine whether to hear the appeal. *If the commission determines not to hear the appeal, within fourteen days after the filing of the notice of appeal, the commission shall issue an order to that effect and notify the parties and their respective representatives in writing of that order. *"
R.C. 4123.512(A) provides: "The claimant or the employer may appeal an order of the Industrial Commission made under division (E) of section 4123.511 of the Revised Code in any injury or occupational disease case, other than a decision as to the extent of disability, to the court of common pleas of the county in which the injury was inflicted *."
Under the unequivocal language of R.C. 4123.511 and 4123.512, a party must appeal an adverse decision of a Staff Hearing Officer to the Industrial Commission, before it can seek review in the Common Pleas Court. Where a party fails to appeal the decision of a staff hearing officer to the Industrial Commission first, an appeal to the Common Pleas Court is properly dismissed. Arbar Corporation v. Wellmeier (Sept. 20, 1995), Hamilton App. No. 94- CA-99, unreported; Bentle v. Worthington Custom Plastics (Dec. 27, 1994), Warren App. No. CA94-08-069, unreported; Thomas v. Sloboda (Nov. 6, 1995), Crawford App. No. 3-94-31, unreported. Thus, the failure to exhaust administrative remedies is a jurisdictional defect which deprives a Common
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