Ohio Code 4123.77 – Common law defenses denied to noncomplying employers
Private employers who fail to comply with section 4123.35 of the Revised Code are not entitled to the benefits of sections 4123.01 to 4123.94, inclusive, of the Revised Code, during the period of such noncompliance, but are liable to their employees for damages suffered by reason of personal injuries sustained in the course of employment caused by the wrongful act, neglect, or default of the employer, or any of the employer’s officers, agents, or employees, and also to the personal representatives of such employees where death results from such injuries, and in such action the defendant shall not avail self of the following common law defenses:
Terms Used In Ohio Code 4123.77
- Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
- 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
- Rule: includes regulation. See Ohio Code 1.59
(A) The defense of the fellow servant rule;
(B) The defense of the assumption of risk;
(C) The defense of contributory negligence.
Such employers are subject to sections 4123.37 and 4123.75 of the Revised Code.