State ex rel. Evenflo Juvenile Furniture Co. v. Hinkle

Summary

The Ohio Supreme Court held that a workers’ compensation claimant who cannot perform sustained remunerative employment is not required to conduct a job search to qualify for impaired earning capacity benefits. The court concluded that Glenn Hinkle’s lack of a job search did not defeat eligibility because medical and vocational evidence established that his industrial injury prevented him from working. It also held that receipt of Social Security disability benefits did not foreclose concurrent receipt of impaired earning capacity benefits.

Holdings

1. A claimant whose medical and vocational evidence establishes that the claimant cannot perform sustained remunerative employment is not required to conduct a job search as a prerequisite to eligibility for impaired earning capacity benefits.
2. Receipt of Social Security disability benefits does not, by itself, foreclose a claimant from receiving impaired earning capacity benefits.

Questions Presented

1. Whether a workers' compensation claimant who cannot perform sustained remunerative employment must conduct a job search as a prerequisite to receiving impaired earning capacity benefits.
2. Whether a claimant's receipt of Social Security disability benefits or an asserted inability to perform sustained remunerative work forecloses receipt of impaired earning capacity benefits.

Disposition

reversed