Pittsburg Coal Co. v. Industrial Commission
Pittsburg Coal Co. v. Industrial Commission
Opinion of the Court
From the statement of the case it will be noted that this was an application made by an employe under the authority of thei Workmen’s Compensation Act. Although at first denied, it was finally allowed in favor of the widow. The plaintiff here seeks to avail itself of the right to review this action of the Industrial Commission under the authority of Section 871-38, General Code. The section provides:
“Any employer or other person in interest being dissatisfied with any order of the Commission may commence an action in the Supreme Court of Ohio against the Commission as defendant to set aside, vacate or amend any such order on the ground that the order is unreasonable or unlawful and the Supreme Court is hereby authorized and vested with exclusive jurisdiction to hear and determine such action.”
“The proceeding authorized by this section [871-38] is manifestly one which calls in question the reasonableness or lawfulness of an order of the Industrial Commission touching the matters referred to in the preceding sections.”
The principle is analogous here. Since the employe may. not avail himself of that section, as a “person in interest,” to test the legality of an award made him by the Commission, the employer has not the right to invoke the jurisdiction of this court for the same purpose. In the GaMon case we sustained the demurrer to the original petition, for the reasons stated, and we now adhere to the decision then made.
It is argued that Section 1465-90, General Code, deprives the plaintiff of these guaranties. This section is part of the Workmen’s Compensation Act, gives full power and authority to the Commission to determine all questions within its jurisdiction, and stipulates that its decisions shall be final, with the proviso that “in case the final action of such Commission denies the right of the claimant to participate at all or to continue to participate in such fund on the ground that the injury was self-inflicted or on the ground that the accident did not arise in the course of employment, or upon any other ground going to the basis of the claimant’s right,” the employe claimant has a right to appeal to the common pleas court for a trial of .those issues going to the basis of the claimant’s right to compensation. Neither this nor any other section, however, gives the right of appeal to the employer should the decision of the Commission be adverse to it.
In the Ohio act the Industrial Commission grants an award to the employe in stipulated statutory amounts, depending upon death or disability. The amount of such compensation ascertained by the
Any defense that the employer may have touching the right of the claimant to participate may be made in an action brought in the name of the state for the benefit of the person entitled to the compensation. This view was expressed in the case of Fassig v. State, 95 Ohio St., 232, at page 242, 116 N. E., 104, at page 107, wherein the opinion states that, in an action so brought against the employer to recover the amount so ascertained and fixed, the defendant employer is entitled to a trial by jury, and is “en
We are of the opinion, therefore, that, by Section 1465-74, General Code, the employer has a full, complete, and adequate remedy in due course of law under the Ohio Workmen’s Compensation Act. (Hawkins v. Bleakly, 243 U. S., 210, 37 Sup. Ct., 255, 61 L. Ed., 678, Ann. Cas., 1917D, 637.) In Fassig v. State, ex rel., supra, this remedy was in fact employed by the employer. .
. The point here under discussion is analogous to that raised and decided in Taylor v. Crawford, 72 Ohio St., 560-570, 74 N. E., 1065, 69 L. R. A., 805. Having decided, however, that Section 871-38, General Code, does not invest this court with jurisdiction to vacate or amend an award made under the Workmen’s Compensation Act, naturally we need not consider the other legal questions urged by counsel for plaintiff in this cause.
The demurrer to the amended petition will be sustained, and the petition dismissed.
Demurrer sustained and petition dismissed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- The Pittsburg Coal Co. v. The Industrial Commission
- Status
- Published