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Jones v. Medical Mutual of Ohio2/19/2004
. The appellant, Rosemary Jones, appeals the decision of the trial court, which denied her amended claim for benefits under Workers' Compensation.
. Appellant suffered a work-related injury on or about June 23, 1989. She filed a Workers' Compensation claim, which was allowed for lower back sprain and herniated disc at the L4-5 level. On April 11, 2001, appellant filed a motion to amend her claim to include the psychiatric condition of dysthymia , alleging that the condition had arisen out of her original back injury. The new claim was denied by the Industrial Commission and the case was appealed, pursuant to R.C. 4123.512. Her case was eventually tried to the bench in the common pleas court. Medical records and testimony from several medical experts were admitted into evidence, as was the testimony of the appellant. The trial court found that the appellant had a number of extensive medical conditions that both preceded and post-dated her 1989 work injury, and that the medical experts who testified could not make a probable causal connection between the appellant's diagnosis of dysthymia and her work-related back injury; therefore, her claim for dysthymia was not allowable.
. Appellant presents two assignments of error for our review.
"I. THE TRIAL COURT COMMITTED PREJUDICIAL ERROR IN ITS FAILURE TO APPLY THE `DUAL CAUSATION' DOCTRINE."
"II. THE TRIAL COURT'S JUDGMENT IS CONTRARY TO LAW, UNSUPPORTED BY THE EVIDENCE (SIC)."
. A claimant's right to appeal a decision concerning workers' compensation benefits is conferred only by statute, R.C. 4123.512. Felty v. AT&T;Technologies, Inc. (1992), 65 Ohio St.3d 234, 237. The Ohio Supreme Court has narrowly interpreted R.C. 4123.512 to allow a party to appeal to the court of common pleas only a decision involving a claimant's right to participate or to continue to participate in the Workers' Compensation Fund. Thomas v. Conrad (1998), 81 Ohio St.3d 475, 477, 692 N.E.2d 205. "Any issue other than whether the injury , disease, or death resulted from employment does not constitute a right-to-participate issue." State ex rel. Liposchak v. Indus. Comm. (2000), 90 Ohio St.3d 276, 280. Workers' compensation statutes must be liberally construed in favor of the employee. R.C. 4123.95; MTD Products, Inc. v. Robatin (1991), 61 Ohio St.3d 66, 68. However, an appellate court, upon review of the judgment of a trial court following a bench trial, should be "guided by a presumption" that the fact-finder's findings are correct. Seasons Coal Co. v. Cleveland (1984), 10 Ohio St.3d 77, 79-80. In addition, an appellate court "should not substitute its judgment for that of the trial court when there exists * competent and credible evidence supporting the findings of fact and conclusions of law rendered by the trial judge." Seasons Coal Co., 10 Ohio St.3d at 80. Thus, this court will not reverse the trial court's judgment unless it is against the manifest weight of the evidence. Id.; see, also, App.R. 12(C).
. To establish a right to workers' compensation benefits for harm arising from an industrial accident, the claimant must show by a preponderance of the evidence that a direct and proximate causal relationship exists between the accident and the harm. Zavasnik v. Lyons Transp. Lines., Inc. (1996), 115 Ohio App.3d 374, 377; see, also, Murphy v. Carrollton Mfg. Co. (1991), 61 Ohio St.3d 585, 587. The definition of and principles that govern the determination of proximate cause in the field of torts are equally applicable in workers' compensation cases. Oswald v. Connor (1985), 16 Ohio St.3d 38, 42, citing Aiken v. Indus. Comm. (1944), 143 Ohio St. 1
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