| News News Archive  Email A Friend
April 19, 2024
Workers Compensation Bill 2024: One percent of employee’s salary to contribute to workers’ compensation fund in Kenya. April 15, 2024
Colorado Worker Shows Head Injury Happened as a Consequence of a Knock on the Head at Work April 4, 2024
Callfornia Division of Workers' Compensation Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee Meeting Scheduled for April 17, 2024 April 3, 2024
California Division of Workers' Compensation Posts Adjustments to Official Medical Fee Schedule (DMEPOS)
| | Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation Ordered By Judge To Refund $859 Million To Employers
By Lonce LaMon - March 20, 2013
The Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation must refund $859 million to about 264,000 employers after charging them excessive insurance premiums over eight years, Judge Richard McMonagle, from Cuyahoga County, ruled this morning.
The ruling means employers can expect refunds ranging from $2 million down to a little bit of chump change.
Jim DeRoche, one of the attorneys representing the employers, said nearly 15,000 employers are each owed $10,000 or more.
It was Earl Stein, the co-owner of Corky & Lenny's, a Woodmere restaurant, who first contended that the state of Ohio's bureau's rating system that determines premiums violated the law. Now this ruling brings an end to a six-year legal battle. Earl Stein and other business owners accused the bureau of forcing them to pay absurdly high premiums to offset much lower rates charged to companies that formed groups to get discounted rates. Stein said his claim comes to about $37,000.
Judge McMonagle ruled in December 2012 that the employers were entitled to refunds. In 2009, the judge put an end to the bureau's wide rate disparity. The maximum discount allowed for group plans is now 53 percent. Previously, it was as high as 90 percent.
The extra costs were a hardship for many businesses. The nonprofit Our Lady of the Wayside in Cleveland was forced to lay off about seven people as a result of its higher premiums, Michelle Homler, the organization's human resources director, expressed last week. She said Our Lady of the Wayside's claim totals $112,000.
Len Morris, owner of vending-machine supplier Serex Services Inc. in Youngstown said he's owed $90,000 and had to let three people go because of higher premiums he was forced to pay.
The Ohio Workers' Compensation Bureau objected to the plaintiffs receiving any restitution. They also claimed the formula used to determine the amount of restitution provides an unfair "windfall" to many companies.
The plaintiff-employers originally submitted a claim of $1.3 billion, only to reduce the amount to $859 million after Judge McMonagle ruled they were not entitled to interest on their overcharges.
Several Northeast Ohio employers held a rally at the Cuyahoga County Courthouse before a hearing last week. They are part of a coalition called Pay Us Back Ohio BWC.
Robert Spiegle, financial controller at Empire Die Casting in Macedonia, was happy to hear the news. "It's time to get our money back so we can reinvest it in our companies and help grow our businesses and fuel the local economy," he said. He added that it's now up to the bureau to pay the restitution without delay. He stated Empire Die Casting is owed $213,000, which could be used to acquire new machines.
|
__May11th2017.gif)
.gif)