Can I be compensated if I have an injury at work?
Workers who are disabled because of injuries or illnesses arising out of and in the course of their employment will usually qualify for workers’ compensation benefits. Workers’ compensation benefits may be partial disability or full disability benefits. These benefits may also be temporary disability or permanent disability benefits.  The workers’ injuries or illness must be a physical injury or illness.  A worker who is disabled because of a mental illness caused by his or her job cannot qualify for workers’ compensation benefits in Ohio unless there is also a physical injury or illness.

Although the workers’ compensation system is a “no fault” system where it is unnecessary to prove employer negligence, employees who were injured because they were drunk or impaired by the consumption of illegal drugs will be denied workers’ compensation benefits.  The system is also intended to replace negligence lawsuits by injured employees against their employers for injuries or illness arising out of the employment. Therefore, in Ohio, only employees injured by an employer’s intentional tort (where the employer intended to injure the employee) may sue the employer for job-related injuries covered by workers’ compensation.