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The state of Ohio's top lawyer, Richard Cordray, is objecting to Chrysler LLC’s pending sale in federal bankruptcy court, over worries that the Ohio workers’ compensation system could be saddled with the burden of the automaker’s self-insured claims under a new owner.

The limited objection that Cordray has filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York has asked that the court delay a sale of the automaker until the company’s workers’ compensation obligations are “properly addressed.” Cordray’s office said that Auburn Hills, Mich.-based Chrysler, in bankruptcy filings, has committed to fulfilling workers’ compensation obligations, but the documents don’t clearly shift the obligation to a new owner.

If Chrysler's present owners do not clearly commit to all past and to-date workers' compensation claims, it could put the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation on the hook for payment and administration of Chrysler’s self-insured claims and take a bite out of Ohio’s self-insured guaranty fund. Such a burden could be overwhelmingly excessive, and would cause problems for all of Ohio’s self-insureds, Cordray said.

Chrysler employs about 5,000 of workers at factories scattered across the northern reaches of the Ohio, mainly in the Toledo area, where it operates a major Jeep assembly operation and stamping plants.

Marsha Ryan, administrator for the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, said the agency is “closely monitoring the situation with Chrysler and is prepared to effectively manage any transition of claims management.