In State ex rel. Fox v. Indus. Comm., 2026-Ohio-2922, the Tenth District Court of Appeals considered whether a claimant who retires while on temporary total disability compensation (“TTD”) can continue to receive TTD after leaving the workforce. In Fox, claimant was injured in March of 2022 and began receiving TTD following surgery on October 22, 2022. She subsequently accepted a full-pension retirement offer from the employer effective November 28, 2022. The employer then requested termination of TTD as of the date of claimant’s retirement. The Industrial Commission applied R.C. 4123.56(F) and State ex rel. Autozone v. Indus. Comm., 2024-Ohio-5519, and granted the employer’s motion. In AutoZone, the claimant suffered an injury and returned to work. He was then terminated for fighting with a coworker. Subsequently, he had surgery for the allowed conditions and requested TTD. The Ohio Supreme Court denied TTD finding the claimant’s inability to work was not the direct result of an impairment arising from an injury and the reason for the lost wages was the termination.
The claimant in Fox filed a mandamus action with the Tenth District Court of Appeals requesting the Industrial Commission’s order be vacated. The court applied both R.C. 4123.56(F) and AutoZone and held the facts were the chronological reverse of AutoZone. Because the claimant was already receiving TTD when she retired, the retirement did not break the causal relationship between her injury and impairment from that injury. Thus, the Court granted the writ of mandamus and ordered the Industrial Commission to vacate its order terminating TTD.
For now, the decision means retirement alone does not necessarily end an employee’s entitlement to TTD compensation. It is unclear how the court would analyze a fact pattern where a claimant leaves employment for reasons other than retirement while receiving TTD. For Ohio employers, careful documentation and review of the medical and employment timeline are essential when evaluating TTD entitlement following a claimant’s retirement.
Both the Industrial Commission and the employer appealed the Fox decision to the Ohio Supreme Court. We will continue to monitor this case and report on the Ohio Supreme Court decision when it is published.
Changes to the Industrial Commission Regional Offices
Attorney, Deborah E. Bensch attended the Statewide Hearing Officer Meeting on September 29, 2026, in Columbus, Ohio where it was announced the Industrial Commission regional offices were reorganized this year. The regional office coordinates and manages surrounding district offices. There are twelve office locations in Ohio. Five of the offices are regional and administrate all the district offices.
The reorganization impacted three regions. Effective March 8, 2026, the Cincinnati region includes Cincinnati, Dayton and Portsmouth and effective May 31, 2026, the Akron region includes Akron, Youngstown, and Cambridge. These changes reduced the Columbus region to include only Columbus, Logan, and Mansfield.