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LABOR & EMPLOYMENT

Workers' Compensation

Roetzel’s Workers’ Compensation Group advises local and national businesses on Ohio-based workers’ compensation matters. Each of our Ohio offices is staffed with dedicated attorneys who handle both administrative and court proceedings, ensuring comprehensive statewide coverage. We serve a diverse range of clients, from Fortune 500 companies and family-run businesses to nonprofits and governmental entities, providing expertise across various employer sizes and industries.

Our strong relationships with every Ohio licensed Third Party Administrator (TPA), members of the claimant’s bar, hearing officers, and other key market participants enable us to offer effective and efficient solutions for resolving workers’ compensation matters, often avoiding litigation. We regularly represent clients before the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC), Ohio Industrial Commission, U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Administrator’s Designee, Self-Insured Review Panel, as well as the 10th District Court of Appeals and Ohio Supreme Court.

  • Attend Adjudication Committee and Industrial Commission hearings
  • File Violation of Specific Safety Requirements (VSSR) applications
  • Handle Bureau of Workers' Compensation (BWC) audits and disputes
  • Address OSHA standards, complaints, responses, and inspections
  • Manage self-insured applications, complaints, and carrier issues
  • Conduct claims reviews
  • Pursue appeal and mandamus actions
  • Perform audits, classifications, and resolve premium disputes
  • Participate in District, Staff, and Industrial Commission hearings
  • Address intentional tort and retaliation claims
  • Handle subrogation and third-party claims
  • Conduct workplace inspections
  • Challenged a Bureau of Workers’ Compensation audit, which saved a contractor claimed past-due premiums
  • Obtained a unanimous defense jury verdict in a complex claim and secured disallowance of an asbestos-related death claim, which would have cost the self-insured employer lifetime benefits
  • Negotiated a favorable settlement with OSHA for a manufacturing client, resulting in a substantial decrease in fines and the withdrawal of two willful citations
  • Obtained a defense verdict in a highly publicized wrongful discharge case in which the jury rendered a verdict on counterclaims in favor of the client
  • Defended an excavator in a jury trial involving a foundation cave-in at a construction site
  • Successfully settled an audit classification protest that saved an employer over $130,000 in premiums
  • Obtained dismissal of a case involving a steel processing plant’s former employee’s alleged intentional tort claims for serious injuries
  • Served as lead counsel for a statewide association of managed care organizations in the Amicus brief filed with the Ohio Supreme Court in response to organized labor’s constitutional challenge to the Bureau’s health partnership program
  • Successfully argued before the Industrial Commission that an injured worker was an independent contractor and not an employee and secured reimbursement from the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation for monies collected because the employer was erroneously labeled a non-complying employer
  • Saved a retrospective-rated employer a significant dollar amount in back premiums and avoided litigation by working with both the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation and the employer on developing a comprehensive safety program
  • Received a favorable jury verdict concerning an employee’s claim for a psychological injury allegedly resulting from occupational injury at a hospital
  • Argued the interests of a nonprofit organization to earn a hearing before the Commissioners of the Industrial Commission and secured a finding of “voluntary abandonment” that overturned an earlier award of Temporary Total Disability compensation
  • Successfully represented a municipality in a workers’ compensation retaliation suit
  • Obtained summary judgment for a leading manufacturer of hardwood flooring in an intentional tort case involving an employee who was injured by a conveyor belt
  • Handled unemployment claims for a variety of employers
  • Obtained summary judgement for global building materials manufacturer client in case involving the accidental death of a rail maintenance crew member
Key Contact
Douglas E. Spiker