May Workers’ Comp Claimants Sue State in Common Pleas Court for Alleged Underpayments?
Pietro Cristino et al. v. Administrator, Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, et al., Case no. 2007-0152 8th District Court of Appeals (Cuyahoga County) ISSUE: Is a class action lawsuit seeking recovery from the state for alleged deliberate underpayment of lump-sum workers’ compensation settlements a suit seeking “equitable relief” that may be brought in a common pleas court, or is such a suit a claim for “money damages” that may only be brought in the Ohio Court of Claims? BACKGROUND: Pietro Cristino and hundreds of other disabled workers have filed a class action lawsuit against the state. The plaintiffs, each of whom was qualified to receive lifetime benefits from the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) based on an award of permanent total disability, each accepted a single lump-sum payment from the bureau in lieu of a lifetime stream of monthly disability benefits. Their complaint alleges that, in calculating the amount of a lump-sum payment proffered to each claimant as the “pr
