State ex rel. Hubbard v. Industrial Commission

Summary

The Ohio Supreme Court granted a writ of mandamus requiring the Industrial Commission to vacate its abatement order and reactivate a deceased worker’s claim for workers’ compensation benefits. The court held that the commission’s medical-examination resolution concerning certain occupational diseases did not apply to the decedent’s asbestos-induced mesothelioma. It further held that the widow could pursue benefits under Ohio Revised Code section 4123.60 for the period during which the claim was pending before the decedent’s death.

Holdings

1. The Industrial Commission erred by treating mesothelioma and asbestosis as interchangeable and by relying on the examination requirement applicable to asbestosis or other occupational respiratory diseases resulting from injurious exposure to dust. Mesothelioma is distinct from asbestosis, and asbestos is a fiber rather than dust for purposes of the provision relied upon.
2. The widow was entitled to have the workers' compensation claim reactivated and to pursue benefits that Hubbard would have received during his lifetime but for administrative delay.
3. The widow was not required to make a separate application under R.C. 4123.60 before seeking mandamus because that statute empowered the commission to award benefits and the commission had already abated the claim.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the Industrial Commission improperly required a commission medical examination under provisions governing asbestosis and other occupational respiratory diseases caused by dust when the claim involved asbestos-induced mesothelioma.
2. Whether the widow's claim for compensation was barred by the general rule that unaccrued workers' compensation benefits abate upon the claimant's death.
3. Whether the widow was required to exhaust an administrative remedy under R.C. 4123.60 before seeking mandamus.

Disposition

writ_granted