Ohio House Bill Makes It Harder for Injured Employees to Sue

As of April 6, 2005, injured employees will find it harder to have “their day in court.” Through the recent passage of Ohio House Bill 498, changes will occur to the current state of employee liabilities in the case of workplace injury. In response, Wilmington, Ohio-based agency Smith-Feike Minton Inc. advises businesses to closely review their current employee liability insurance to alleviate any gaps in coverage as this new law comes into fruition.

Ohio House Bill 498 redefined for employees and employers what injuries are “substantially certain to occur.” Injured employees will now have to prove “actual intent from employer” if an employee plans to sue an employer. This bill also intends to eliminate double recovery from the same workplace incident, which prevents an injured employee from benefiting from both worker’s compensation and intentional tort actions.

Most employers’ liability coverage will exclude coverage if the act was committed with the deliberate intent to injure. Current policies will exclude coverage based on the new definition of “substantially certain to occur” regardless if the employer paid the premium.

Since this new bill puts employees at a greater disadvantage for suing their employer for workplace injury, SFM predicts that Ohio House Bill 498 will be challenged in the Supreme Court of Ohio as many similar bills have. If HR 498 is challenged and found unconstitutional, employer/employee liability law will go back to its original codes before HR 498 existed.

If this happens, employers who drop their employers liability coverage will experience a gap in coverage as the law transitions back.

Topics Lawsuits Workers' Compensation Ohio