Hurt by a Resident While Working in Assisted Living in Ohio: Your Workers' Compensation Claim

Attorney Answer

An injury from a resident while you are caring for residents is a work injury in Ohio, and workers' compensation is the system that pays for it: your medical care and, if you miss work, part of your wages. Start the claim within one year, and name the eye specifically.

Why comp covers it. Ohio Rev. Code § 4123.01(C):

(C) "Injury" includes any injury, whether caused by external accidental means or accidental in character and result, received in the course of, and arising out of, the injured employee's employment.

You were hurt doing your job, by the kind of risk your job involves. That is what “in the course of, and arising out of” employment describes.

What comp means for a lawsuit. Ohio Rev. Code § 4123.74:

Employers who comply with section 4123.35 of the Revised Code shall not be liable to respond in damages at common law or by statute for any injury, or occupational disease, or bodily condition, received or contracted by any employee in the course of or arising out of his employment, or for any death resulting from such injury, occupational disease, or bodily condition occurring during the period covered by such premium so paid into the state insurance fund, or during the interval the employer is a self-insuring employer, whether or not such injury, occupational disease, bodily condition, or death is compensable under this chapter.

So the claim is a comp claim, not a lawsuit against the facility. Whether anyone else, such as the resident, could be responsible in court is a separate question, and with a resident who may not understand what they did, it is one for a lawyer.

The deadline. Ohio Rev. Code § 4123.84(A):

(A) In all cases of injury or death, claims for compensation or benefits for the specific part or parts of the body injured shall be forever barred unless, within one year after the injury or death:

(1) Written or facsimile notice of the specific part or parts of the body claimed to have been injured has been made to the industrial commission or the bureau of workers' compensation;

The notice is by part of the body. An eye injury can turn out to involve more, such as the bone around the eye, vision or headaches, so make sure everything your doctors find is listed.

What you can do

1. Report the incident to your employer in writing and ask that an incident report be made. Keep a copy.

2. Tell every medical provider that the injury happened at work.

3. File the claim with the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation yourself, online or by phone, naming the eye and anything else that was hurt.

4. Keep follow-up appointments, especially with an eye specialist, and keep every record.

5. Even if you are handling this yourself, you would be best served by a brief phone consultation with a local Ohio attorney before you act. Most lawyers offer a short initial call at no cost, and a few minutes on your specific facts — and on how your court actually handles this — is worth more than any general guidance, including this page.

⏱ Time limits apply. A workers' compensation claim must be started within one year of the injury under Ohio Rev. Code § 4123.84(A), most simply by notice to the Bureau of Workers' Compensation of each part of the body that was hurt. Have a lawyer or the bureau confirm your claim is on file well before then.