Ohio Judge Sides With Challenge on Workers’ Comp

An Ohio judge on Nov. 18 blocked the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation from setting job-injury insurance rates while a lawsuit brought by several business owners moves forward.

Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Richard McMonagle granted a preliminary injunction and said a new rating plan must be put in place for policies that begin July 1, 2009. The bureau must enact a system that uses a “retrospective rating” based on injuries that have happened in the past, he said.

Attorneys for the small business owners have argued that the bureau wrongly tries to anticipate injuries that will happen in the coming year when setting rates.

Bureau spokeswoman Melissa Vince said the agency was pleased the decision wouldn’t affect rates or premiums for the current policy year.

With depositions and expert testimony, a trial could take more than a year to resolve, lawyers have said. McMonagle didn’t comment on a timetable in Tuesday’s ruling.

The bureau’s system covers about 270,000 employers and in 2007 paid almost $2 billion in benefits to workers for on-the-job injuries.