Ohio Code 4123.65 – Application for approval of final settlement
(A) A state fund employer or the employee of such an employer may file an application with the administrator of workers’ compensation for approval of a final settlement of a claim under this chapter. The application shall include the settlement agreement, and except as otherwise specified in this division, be signed by the claimant and employer, and clearly set forth the circumstances by reason of which the proposed settlement is deemed desirable and that the parties agree to the terms of the settlement agreement. A claimant may file an application without an employer’s signature in the following situations:
Terms Used In Ohio Code 4123.65
- employee: includes the following persons when responding to an inherently dangerous situation that calls for an immediate response on the part of the person, regardless of whether the person is within the limits of the jurisdiction of the person's regular employment or voluntary service when responding, on the condition that the person responds to the situation as the person otherwise would if the person were on duty in the person's jurisdiction:
(i) Off-duty peace officers. See Ohio Code 4123.01
- Employer: means :
(a) The state, including state hospitals, each county, municipal corporation, township, school district, and hospital owned by a political subdivision or subdivisions other than the state;
(b) Every person, firm, professional employer organization, alternate employer organization, and private corporation, including any public service corporation, that (i) has in service one or more employees or shared employees regularly in the same business or in or about the same establishment under any contract of hire, express or implied, oral or written, or (ii) is bound by any such contract of hire or by any other written contract, to pay into the insurance fund the premiums provided by this chapter. See Ohio Code 4123.01
- Occupational disease: means a disease contracted in the course of employment, which by its causes and the characteristics of its manifestation or the condition of the employment results in a hazard which distinguishes the employment in character from employment generally, and the employment creates a risk of contracting the disease in greater degree and in a different manner from the public in general. See Ohio Code 4123.01
- Self-insuring employer: means an employer who is granted the privilege of paying compensation and benefits directly under section 4123. See Ohio Code 4123.01
- Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
- state: means the state of Ohio. See Ohio Code 1.59
(1) The employer is no longer doing business in Ohio;
(2) The claim no longer is in the employer’s industrial accident or occupational disease experience as provided in division (B) of section 4123.34 of the Revised Code and the claimant no longer is employed with that employer;
(3) The employer has failed to comply with section 4123.35 of the Revised Code.
If a claimant files an application without an employer’s signature, and the employer still is doing business in this state, the administrator shall send written notice of the application to the employer immediately upon receipt of the application. If the employer fails to respond to the notice within thirty days after the notice is sent, the application need not contain the employer’s signature.
If a state fund employer or an employee of such an employer has not filed an application for a final settlement under this division, the administrator may file an application on behalf of the employer or the employee, provided that the administrator gives notice of the filing to the employer and the employee and to the representative of record of the employer and of the employee immediately upon the filing. An application filed by the administrator shall contain all of the information and signatures required of an employer or an employee who files an application under this division. Every self-insuring employer that enters into a final settlement agreement with an employee shall mail, within seven days of executing the agreement, a copy of the agreement to the administrator and the employee’s representative. The administrator shall place the agreement into the claimant’s file.
(B) Except as provided in divisions (C) and (D) of this section, a settlement agreed to under this section is binding upon all parties thereto and as to items, injuries, and occupational diseases to which the settlement applies.
(C) No settlement agreed to under division (A) of this section or agreed to by a self-insuring employer and the self-insuring employer’s employee shall take effect until thirty days after the administrator approves the settlement for state fund employees and employers, or after the self-insuring employer and employee sign the final settlement agreement. Except as provided in division (G) of this section, during the thirty-day period, the employer, employee, or administrator, for state fund settlements, and the employer or employee, for self-insuring settlements, may withdraw consent to the settlement by an employer providing written notice to the employer’s employee and the administrator or by an employee providing written notice to the employee’s employer and the administrator, or by the administrator providing written notice to the state fund employer and employee. If an employee dies during the thirty-day waiting period following the approval of a settlement, the settlement can be voided by any party for good cause shown.
(D) At the time of agreement to any final settlement agreement under division (A) of this section or agreement between a self-insuring employer and the self-insuring employer’s employee, the administrator, for state fund settlements, and the self-insuring employer, for self-insuring settlements, immediately shall send a copy of the agreement to the industrial commission who shall assign the matter to a staff hearing officer. The staff hearing officer shall determine, within the time limitations specified in division (C) of this section, whether the settlement agreement is or is not a gross miscarriage of justice. If the staff hearing officer determines within that time period that the settlement agreement is clearly unfair, the staff hearing officer shall issue an order disapproving the settlement agreement. If the staff hearing officer determines that the settlement agreement is not clearly unfair or fails to act within those time limits, the settlement agreement is approved.
(E) A settlement entered into under this section may pertain to one or more claims of a claimant, or one or more parts of a claim, or the compensation or benefits pertaining to either, or any combination thereof, provided that nothing in this section shall be interpreted to require a claimant to enter into a settlement agreement for every claim that has been filed with the bureau of workers’ compensation by that claimant under Chapter 4121., 4123., 4127., or 4131. of the Revised Code.
(F) A settlement entered into under this section is not appealable under section 4123.511 or 4123.512 of the Revised Code.
(G) Notwithstanding any provision of the Revised Code to the contrary, an employer shall not deny or withdraw consent to a settlement application filed under this section if both of the following apply to the claim that is the subject of the application:
(1) The claim is no longer within the date of impact pursuant to the employer’s industrial accident or occupational disease experience as provided in division (B) of section 4123.34 of the Revised Code;
(2) The employee named in the claim is no longer employed by the employer.