State Ex Rel. Crabtree v. Bureau of Workers' Compensation

Douglas, J.,

concurring. I concur in the well-reasoned opinion of Justice Pfeifer. I write separately to make one additional point.

R.C. 4121.31, in part, provides:

*511“The administrator of workers’ compensation and the industrial commission jointly shall adopt rules covering the following general topics with respect to this chapter [4121] and Chapter 4123. of the Revised Code:
u * * *
“(C) All claims, whether of a state fund or self-insuring employer, be processed in an orderly, uniform, and timely fashion.” (Emphasis added.)

Clearly, the respondent bureau (pursuant to its promulgated “policy”) is not handling TTD disputes in a “uniform” fashion as required by the statute. This is so because State Fund claimants are affected by the “policy” but employee-claimants of a self-insured employer are not. Really, given R.C. 4121.31, nothing more needs to be said.