An employee may be entitled to temporary total disability compensation even though she tested positive for cocaine use while on a Family and Medical Leave Act absence, an Ohio appeals court ruled Thursday, July 31.
The decision by the 10th District Court of Appeals in State of Ohio ex relatione Alice M. Bogan v. Industrial Commission of Ohio and Tomasco Mulciber Inc. overturned a state Industrial Commission finding.
The commission had ruled that Bogan “voluntarily abandoned her employment” by violating an employee-handbook prohibition against the use of illegal drugs in the workplace or reporting to work under their influence. Therefore, the commission said, Bogan was not entitled to disability compensation.
But on appeal, a magistrate appointed by the appeals court found no evidence that Bogan used drugs on her employer’s property or was working when she tested positive. The magistrate ruled that the Industrial Commission abused its discretion by denying the temporary total disability compensation.
Bogan’s employer objected to that finding, but the appeals court agreed with the magistrate and ordered the commission to reconsider Bogan’s entitlement to the payments.
Filed by Roberto Ceniceros of Business Insurance, a sister publication of Workforce Management. To comment, e-mail editors@workforce.com.
