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Hapgood v. Conrad6/28/2002
. Plaintiff-appellant John Hapgood ("appellant") appeals from the judgment of the Trumbull County Court of Common Pleas, granting summary judgment in favor of defendants-appellees the Administrator of the Bureau of Workers' Compensation and the Industrial Commission of Ohio following the denial of his workers' compensation claim.
. On January 24, 1997, appellant filed an appeal from the decision of the Bureau of Workers' Compensation, denying appellant the right to participate in the Workers' Compensation Fund. Appellant claimed he was injured while employed by Trumbull County.
. On October 7, 1999, the Administrator of the Bureau of Workers' Compensation and the Industrial Commission filed a motion for summary judgment. In the motion, the defendants stated that appellant's claim for "bulging disc S1, nerve compression left" was premised on a January 2, 1993 incident. Appellant was discharged from his employment as a firefighter for the city of Warren as a result of filing a claim falsely asserting he was injured in the course of his employment. Appellant filed a grievance with the union because of his dismissal. The arbitrator upheld appellant's dismissal, finding appellant lied about injuring himself at work. The defendants maintained appellant's workers' compensation appeal was precluded by collateral estoppel because of the arbitration. The defendants argued that the arbitrator's decision was final and binding on the parties.
. Earlier, appellant had filed a retaliatory discharge claim in the court of common pleas. This court upheld the grant of summary judgment in favor of the defendant in Hapgood v. Warren . This court held the doctrine of collateral estoppel precluded appellant from bringing the cause of action, because the arbitration proceeding and the retaliatory discharge claim involved the same falsified workers' compensation application.
. Appellant countered the defendant's motion for summary judgment by contending that collateral estoppel was not applicable, because the appeal before the court of common pleas involved the merits of his workers' compensation claim and not any falsification of that claim. Appellant asserted that he needed to prove he was injured during the course and scope of his employment and not whether his termination was lawful. Appellant argued the issue before the court of common pleas was not identical to the earlier arbitration proceedings. Appellant further argued that the parties were not identical because the Industrial Commission and the Bureau of Workers' Compensation were not parties to the arbitration or the retaliatory discharge action.
. The trial court granted the Industrial Commission's motion to dismiss. R.C. 4123.512 provides that the court shall make the Commission a party upon the application of the Commission. The Commission did not make an application to be a party in the action. The trial court also granted the defendants' motion for summary judgment. Appellant has appealed from this judgment.
. On April 5, 2001, this court remanded the case to the trial court after determining the appeal was not based on a final appealable order. Defendant, the city of Warren, did not file a motion for summary judgment and remains a party below. On April 17, 2001, the trial court issued a nunc pro tunc judgment entry stating there was no just cause for delay. Pursuant to Civ.R. 54(B), the appeal is now properly before this court.
. Appellant assigns the following error for review:
. "Appellant is not precluded by the doctrine of collateral estoppel from pursuing a workers' compensation claim."
. In his sole assignment of error, appella
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