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Hurt on the job? Ohio's no-fault system should work for you. We make sure delays and denials don't cost you benefits.
No fee unless we win
Free consultation, no fee unless we win.
No fee unless we win
What you do have to do is get the claim filed properly, keep it moving, and answer every challenge to it. A delay can cost you benefits just as effectively as an outright denial, and a claim that stalls quietly is the most common way people lose out.
You were injured on the job in Ohio, or you have an occupational illness, and your claim has been denied, delayed, or is not paying what it should.
Nothing up front. We are paid contingently, so there is no hourly bill and no retainer to get started. No fee unless we win.
Where a claim goes from the day it is filed. Deadlines are not drawn on it: they are set out in full in the questions at the foot of this page.
If you are injured on the job in Ohio, you may be entitled to workers’ compensation benefits through the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) or, if your employer is self-insured, directly through your employer. Workers’ compensation is a no-fault system, so you generally don’t have to prove your employer did anything wrong, only that your injury happened in the course of and arising out of your employment. A claim for an injury must be filed within one year of the date of injury, and occupational disease claims have their own deadlines. Once a claim is filed, your employer can certify or dispute it, and the BWC or self-insured employer decides whether to allow it and which medical conditions are covered. If the claim is allowed, benefits can include payment of medical bills, wage replacement while you are unable to work, compensation for permanent impairment, and in some cases permanent total disability or death benefits.
Many claims don’t go smoothly. Employers dispute claims, the BWC may deny coverage for certain conditions, and requests for treatment or time off work are often challenged. These disputes are decided by the Ohio Industrial Commission, first by a District Hearing Officer and then on appeal by a Staff Hearing Officer, and some decisions can be appealed further to court. Appeal deadlines are short, often just 14 days, and the medical evidence and doctors’ opinions you present can determine whether you receive benefits. An experienced workers’ compensation attorney can file your claim correctly, gather the medical support you need, represent you at hearings, and protect your right to benefits throughout the process.
Two questions account for most of the calls we take about work injuries, and they need different answers.
Usually asked about an injury that built up over time, one to a part of the body that was already troublesome, or one reported a few days late. All three are covered more often than people assume, which is why so many injured workers never file at all.
No. A denial is an order, and orders are appealed through the Industrial Commission at hearings where evidence is presented and people are heard. Most denials turn on the file rather than the injury: late reporting, a medical note that does not match the account, or a pre-existing condition offered as the whole explanation. Those are answerable. The appeal deadline is not. Once it passes, the denial generally stands.
Where somebody outside your employer caused the injury: another driver, a contractor on site, a defective machine, there may be a separate injury claim running alongside the compensation claim. It is the most commonly overlooked thing in this area, and often where the larger recovery lies.
Free consultation, no retainer, no hourly bill. The fee is contingent on recovery.
General information, not legal advice. Every case turns on its own facts. The only way to know where yours stands is to have someone look at it.
A denial is not the end of the claim, but the deadlines are short and they are unforgiving.
BWC or self-insured employer decision: An appeal to the Industrial Commission must be filed within 14 days of receiving the order.
District Hearing Officer decision: An appeal to a Staff Hearing Officer must be filed within 14 days of receiving the order.
Staff Hearing Officer decision: An appeal to the full Industrial Commission must be filed within 14 days of receiving the order. The Commission may choose not to hear the appeal.
Final Industrial Commission decision: If the decision concerns whether you have the right to participate in the workers’ compensation system, you may appeal to the county Court of Common Pleas within 60 days of receiving the order. Decisions about the extent of your disability cannot be appealed to court and may be challenged only through a mandamus action.
Because these deadlines are short and missing one can cost you your benefits, contact an attorney as soon as you receive an unfavorable decision.
Ohio law prohibits an employer from discharging, demoting or otherwise retaliating against an employee for filing or pursuing a workers’ compensation claim. That protection is separate from the claim itself, and it has its own deadlines and its own proof requirements.
Sometimes, and this is one of the most commonly missed opportunities. Workers’ compensation is generally the exclusive remedy against your own employer. It does not stop a claim against a third party who caused the injury: another driver, a contractor on site, or the manufacturer of a defective machine. If someone outside your employer was responsible, both can proceed at once.
Not up front. The fee is contingent, so it comes out of what is recovered rather than out of your pocket, and there is no hourly billing and no retainer. If we do not win, there is no fee.
As soon as you reasonably can, and in writing if at all possible. Late reporting is the single most common reason Ohio claims are denied, not because the rule is harsh, but because a delay gets treated as doubt about whether work caused the injury. If you have already waited, that is a problem to be explained rather than a bar.
Repetitive and cumulative conditions: carpal tunnel syndrome, tendonitis, cumulative back and shoulder injuries, can be compensable. With no single incident to point at, these claims turn on the work history and on medical evidence linking the condition to it. They are denied more often and won on evidence.
Expect that argument; do not accept it as the answer. Ohio law recognizes that work can substantially aggravate a pre-existing condition. Very few adults have a spine with nothing at all in its history, and the real question is what your work did to it, which is medical, and answerable with medical evidence.
Ohio generally allows treatment from providers certified within the system, subject to rules about certification and authorization for particular treatment. If you are told you must see one specific provider chosen by your employer, that is worth questioning.
Ohio employers are generally required to carry workers’ compensation coverage, through the state fund or as a self-insuring employer. Being told there is no coverage is a reason to get advice rather than to give up.
Faster than a disability claim, generally. Hearings after an appeal are usually scheduled within a defined window, so the process moves more quickly than most people expect. That cuts both ways: there is less time to assemble medical evidence, which is why work starts as soon as an appeal is filed.
Start with the page that matches where you are: whether the injury is covered at all, or what to do about a claim that has been refused.
A work injury can also be a third-party injury claim, and a lasting one can become a disability claim.
Joni Hayes the best the lady saved Christmas. She was on top of this self insured employer of mine that dint wanna pay up was two months. when I hired them she fixed the problem in couple hours and was holiday season wow she was amazing I totally recommend
I have Doug Casper for my workers comp. He has helped me tremendously. I am now also working with Steve for my disability. Steve also helped us so so much when my late husband needed help with his illness. I have recommended this group to anyone who would need a lawyer.
I had great service from Casper & Casper and I recommend them to all my family and friends for their Workers Compensation needs.
Casper and Casper has taken care of my family for years my dad was hurt really bad and handicapped the rest of his life they helped him getting everything he needed and now that i was hurt on the job they have taken care of me
I was injured on the job a while ago, and my employer decided that instead of taking care of me, they would let me go, even though I reported the injury. I contacted Dan Allnutt, of Casper, Casper & Casper, and told him my problem. He and his team went to work and got me the surgery i needed, and the workman's compensation I was due to get back to where I am today. Kim Chupka was an incredible rock, and every time I had a complaint or question, she was always there, with an answer.
Doug Casper helped me with my Workman's Compensation claim, including a hearing before the Ohio Industrial Commission, in which he was successful. He was able to obtain total compensation for my hearing aids, which were desperately needed after a profession where I was continously over-exposed to very high decibel noise. Thank you Doug Casper!
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Free consultation, no fee unless we win.
No fee unless we win
