Employers seek changes in Ohio workers’ comp

CLEVELAND (AP) — A legal challenge to the way Ohio sets job-injury insurance rates is unwarranted because the system is fair and follows legislative mandates, an attorney for the state said Tuesday as a court battle closely watched by business and industry began.

Attorneys for seven employers upset about rising workers’ comp premiums asked Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Richard McMonagle to block the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation from using a rate-setting system that it considers unfair.

The system covers about 270,000 employers and paid nearly $2 billion in 2007 in benefits to workers for on-the-job injuries.

Steven Miller, a Cleveland attorney representing the bureau, told the judge that the system is fair, takes into account an employer’s work-injury claim record and follows mandates set by Ohio lawmakers.

The request for an injunction against the rate-setting method should be rejected because the businesses who filed the lawsuit didn’t first try to resolve their concerns through the agency’s administrative channels, Miller said.

In addition, state law bars judges from interfering with the rate-setting process, Miller said.

The hearing on the injunction could last days.

If the complicated matter involving insurance risks goes to trial with depositions and expert testimony, it could take more than a year to resolve, Miller said.