State ex rel. O'Brien v. Cincinnati, Inc

In State ex rel. O'Brien v. Cincinnati, Inc., Franklin App. No. 07AP-825, 2008 Ohio 2841, the Court had to determine whether Dr. Fossier's report constituted some evidence that the injured worker is capable of performing at a sedentary level despite the fact that Dr. Fossier indicated that the injured worker could perform at a light-duty level. Dr. Fossier's actual findings clearly placed the injured worker within the scope of sedentary work, but not within the scope of light work. In O'Brien, this court had occasion to succinctly summarize applicable law: Initially, it is important to note that a medical report that identifies the worker's exertional category as defined in the Ohio Administrative Code and does not include additional opinions regarding specific restrictions on sitting, lifting, standing, and so forth is still sufficient to constitute some evidence. State ex rel. Ace v. Toyota of Cincinnati Co., Franklin App. No. 03AP-517, 2004 Ohio 3971, at P30. Thus, a medical report may constitute evidence on which the commission may rely when the physician simply opines the claimant was limited to "sedentary work" and provides no further details of the claimant's various functional restrictions. Id. On the other hand, the commission cannot simply rely on a physician's "bottom line" identification of an exertional category without examining the specific restrictions imposed by the physician in the body of the report. See State ex rel. Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp. v. Indus. Comm., Franklin App. No. 03AP-684, 2004 Ohio 3841; and State ex rel. Howard v. Millennium Inorganic Chemicals, Franklin App. No. 03AP-637, 2004 Ohio 6603. In both Owens-Corning and Howard, the doctor indicated that the injured worker could perform at a certain strength level, and yet, the rest of the report indicated greater restrictions on the injured worker that would actually render him incapable of performing the strength level work that the doctor had indicated he could perform. The Court held in Owens-Corning and Howard that the commission cannot simply rely upon a determination that an injured worker can perform at a certain strength level; rather, the commission must review the doctor's report and actually make certain that any physical restrictions the doctor listed correspond with an ability to actually perform at the exertional level indicated by the doctor.Id. at P9-10.