Republic-Franklin Insurance v. City of Amherst

The issue before this court is whether a person convicted of a misdemeanor who agrees to do community service work in lieu of sentence, and is subsequently injured performing such work, is, for purposes of the workers’ compensation law, an “employee” of the .agency to whom he is assigned.1

A claimant’s “[entitlement to workers’ compensation payments is a substantive right measured by the statutes in force on the date of the injury. State, ex rel. Samkas, v. Indus. Comm. (1982), 70 Ohio St. 2d 279, 281 [24 O.O. 3d 364]; State, ex rel. Vaughn, v. Indus. Comm. (1982), 69 Ohio St. 2d 115, 117 [23…