State ex rel. Cobble v. Industrial Commission

Summary

The Ohio Supreme Court held that R.C. 4123.52 limited retroactive adjustment of the claimant’s workers’ compensation benefits to the two years preceding his application. Although the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation had incorrectly calculated the claimant’s average weekly wage, he waited approximately ten years to seek correction and was therefore not entitled to adjustment of all prior compensation. The court affirmed the denial of his mandamus request and rejected his due process argument.

Holdings

1. R.C. 4123.52 limited Cobble's retroactive compensation adjustment to the two years preceding his application for the adjustment, regardless of whether the requested payment was characterized as an award, enforcement, adjustment, or modification.
2. The court did not decide categorically what document constitutes an application for purposes of R.C. 4123.52 because Cobble's ten-year delay independently barred recovery beyond the two-year period.
3. Limiting Cobble's retroactive adjustment did not violate due process because he could have petitioned the commission for a hearing and corrective relief after the average weekly wage was set, but waited approximately ten years to do so.

Questions Presented

1. Whether R.C. 4123.52 barred adjustment of workers' compensation payments for more than two years before Cobble's application to correct his average weekly wage.
2. Whether Cobble's submission of wage information with his original benefits application constituted an earlier application that triggered the two-year period.
3. Whether limiting retroactive compensation adjustment to two years violated due process because the Bureau initially miscalculated the average weekly wage without a hearing.