McKenzie & Snyder win Appellate Court Case for Cincinnati Injured Worker: BWC Claim for Radiculopathy

In Ohio work comp cases, issues are generally resolved at the Industrial Commission. If a party wishes to appeal a decision regarding the allowance of a claim or additional condition in a claim, they may do so to the court of common pleas. Here in Cincinnati, that is done at the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas. If a party is unhappy with the result there, they may appeal that decision to the Court of Appeals, First Appellate District of Ohio in Hamilton County.

McKenzie & Snyder recently appealed a decision by the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas regarding the additional allowance of radiculopathy in a BWC claim. Fortunately for our client, the First District Court issued an opinion reversing the trial court’s decision, remanding the case for the trial court to enter a judgment in favor of the injured worker, allowing him to participate in the workers’ compensation fund for the additional allowance of lumbar radiculopathy at L4-5 and L5-S1.

The decision was a rather important one because it not only allowed this injured workers’ claim to finally be recognized for the appropriate conditions, it also set precedent that an injured workers’ claim need not be allowed for a “compressive pathology” (e.g., disc herniation) before radiculopathy may be recognized.

You may review the Court’s decision in Bell v. Ryan here: http://www.hamilton-co.org/appealscourt/

McKenzie & Snyder represents injured persons in the Greater Cincinnati and Dayton areas.

Written by Andrew Tobergte