Filing an Injury Claim Against the Government in Ohio

You were injured in Ohio, maybe by a state employee or a county worker. You're thinking about a personal injury lawsuit. But you have questions about Ohio law. Can I sue the State? Don't government workers get special protection from injury claims? Do I have to follow special rules to bring a claim against the city? How much can I collect if I win?

We answer those questions and more. After an overview of the issues you're likely to face when making an injury claim against the government, we turn our attention to the specifics of Ohio law.

Common Issues in Injury Claims Against the Government

Suing the government isn't like suing your neighbor or a local business. For starters, special rules called governmental immunities shield states, localities, and their workers from many kinds of legal claims. And immunities are just the tip of the iceberg. Make it past those and you're likely to face a slew of procedures and deadlines specially crafted to protect the government's interests at your expense.

As you move ahead with your injury claim against the government, be on the lookout for these issues—and perhaps others, too.

Governmental Immunities

Governmental immunities are rules crafted by courts and state legislatures. They go by different names, and each one works a little differently than the others. But all immunities serve a common purpose: To make sure the government, its officers, and its employees aren't legally responsible for the consequences of their misconduct.

When an immunity applies, it's a claim killer. No matter how serious or disabling your injuries might be, an immunity stops your case in its tracks. The good news is that all states have waived (voluntarily given up) their immunities, at least for some kinds of claims. The bad news is that in every state, a number of immunities remain. To have any chance of success, you'll first have to successfully navigate your way around them.

Deadlines and Statutes of Limitations

When you've been hurt by the government and want to bring a claim for compensation (damages), be ready to act quickly. Special deadlines, including lawsuit filing deadlines called statutes of limitations, often require that you act within a matter of months—maybe even before you've had enough time to gather all the facts.

Why the need for such speed? Does this mean you'll get paid more quickly than with other kinds of claims? Unfortunately, no. These deadlines aren't meant to make sure you get paid faster—the government doesn't want to pay you at all. Like government immunities, these quick deadlines are claim killers. Miss an arbitrary deadline and, in most states, your claim comes to an end.

Special Processes and Procedures

Chances are you'll have to follow special processes and procedures that don't apply in other kinds of cases. Here's the most common example. In almost every state, before you can sue the government or its workers, you first must send the government written notice of your injury or your intent to file a lawsuit.

Odds are the government already knows about your claim—an employee filed an incident report or a police officer made an accident report, for example. So why insist on you filing a notice of claim? If you're thinking "claim killer," you're paying attention. Some claimants, unaware that notice is required, fail to file it. Typically, that spells the death of their claim.

Limits on Damages You Can Collect

When all else fails—you've navigated through the immunities, jumped through the special procedure hoops, and met all the artificially short deadlines—the government still has one card left to play: Damage limits, also known as "caps." These laws, as the name suggests, arbitrarily limit the personal injury damages you can recover if you win your case.

In some states, the caps are so low as to add insult to injury—just tens of thousands or a few hundred thousand dollars. That amount probably covers routine fender benders and other minor or moderate claims. But if your injuries are serious or catastrophic, it won't come close to meeting your needs.

Where to Start? Your State Tort Claims Act

When you're analyzing a possible injury claim against the government, the starting point should be your state's "tort claims act" or similar law. A "tort" is just a wrongful act that causes personal injury or property damage. A "tort claim" is an insurance claim or a civil lawsuit to collect damages for tort injuries.

The term "tort claims act" is a bit misleading. State tort claims laws don't regulate all tort claims generally. Instead, they lay down the basic rules—immunities, deadlines, and special procedures—for tort claims against the state. In some states, the tort claims act also covers local governments. State courts usually fill in the blanks with case decisions that explain and interpret the law.

Personal Injury Claims Against the State of Ohio

Ohio's version of a tort claims act is called the Court of Claims Act. The Court of Claims Act covers only claims against Ohio. When you've been injured by an Ohio political subdivision like a county, township, or city, you'll need to refer to Ohio's Political Subdivision Tort Liability Act.

If you've been hurt by Ohio or its officers or employees and you're thinking about a lawsuit, the Court of Claims Act is your starting point. It partially waives Ohio's sovereign immunity and consents to suits against the state under certain circumstances. In cases where Ohio retains its immunity, the Act lays out a multi-factor test to determine whether you're allowed to sue. When you are allowed to sue Ohio, the Act tells you when and where you must file your case.

Are You Allowed to Sue? Ohio's Partial Waiver of Sovereign Immunity

To figure out if you can sue Ohio for your injuries, you do a two-step analysis. This analysis asks, first, whether your claim involves a "public duty." A public duty, generally speaking, is one that's owed not to any specific person but to all members of the public generally. When a public duty is involved, you must prove the government undertook a duty to you in particular—the second step in the analysis—or you're not allowed to sue.

Step One: Does your claim involve a public duty? Ohio waives its sovereign immunity and consents to be sued for damages unless your claim involves the performance of (or failure to perform) a "public duty." (Ohio Rev. Code § 2743.02(A)(1) (2024).) Presumptive public duties are enumerated in Ohio Rev. Code § 2743.02(E)(1) (2024).

• Licenses, permits, and certificates. Granting, issuing, suspending, revoking, or limiting a permit, certificate, or license is a public duty. Suppose, for example, that the State Medical Board of Ohio takes no action to suspend or revoke the license of a physician who's been sued 12 times for malpractice. You can't sue the Board because you disagree with its failure to take action.
• Investigations and inspections. Ohio must investigate and inspect countless persons, places, and civil and criminal activities. Say a rushed hospital inspection fails to uncover several health and safety violations. You don't have a claim against Ohio for doing a sloppy inspection job.
• Supervision. Ohio has duties to supervise thousands of people and activities, including its officers, employees, contractors, persons in state custody, and more. You might disagree with the decision to place a convicted felon in a halfway house but your disagreement, by itself, doesn't entitle you to file suit.
• Regulating, auditing, and monitoring. Tens of thousands of statutes, regulations, rules, and policies require Ohio to regulate, audit, and monitor the activities of millions of people, businesses, and other entities. Upset because the Ohio Department of Taxation audited your state income tax returns? You'll find yourself at the end of a long line, and nobody standing in it is allowed to sue.
• Law enforcement and emergency services. Ohio, like all states, has duties to the public to provide law enforcement and emergency services. You're not entitled to sue because you disagree with the way the state enforces (or doesn't enforce) its laws.
• Settling claims. Decisions to compromise and settle claims against the state, its officers, and its employees involve judgment and discretion. You can't sue because you think Ohio paid someone too much money for their personal injury claim.

If your claim doesn't involve one of these public duties, chances are you're allowed to sue. Otherwise, you move on to the second step in the analysis.

Step Two: A "special relationship" with the state. A public duty becomes a duty owed specifically to you if you can prove that you and Ohio have a "special relationship." To prove such a relationship, you'll need to show each of these four factors.

• Assumption of duty. The state assumed an affirmative duty, either by its actions or its promises, to act for your benefit.
• Knowledge of risk of harm. Ohio's employees or agents knew that their failure to act could cause you harm.
• Direct contact. There was some direct contact between you and the state's employees or agents.
• Justifiable reliance. You justifiably relied on the state's affirmative undertaking.

(Ohio Rev. Code § 2743.02(A)(3)(b) (2024).)

The special relationship test is a steep hill to climb, and most who try come up short. You can count on the state fighting you at every step.

Filing Your Case: The Ohio Court of Claims

Suppose you're allowed to sue Ohio. Now what? The Court of Claims Act tells you where you must file your lawsuit.

The Act creates a special court called the Court of Claims. That court has "exclusive, original jurisdiction of all civil actions against the state... ." (Ohio Rev. Code § 2743.03(A)(1) (2024).) If you want to sue Ohio for personal injury damages, your lawsuit belongs in the Court of Claims. Note that the Court of Claims isn't authorized to hear cases against Ohio political subdivisions.

Ohio, unlike most states, doesn't have a pre-suit notice requirement. But that doesn't mean you're free to run to the Court of Claims and file your case. Before you can sue, you first must try to settle your claims with either the Ohio Department of Administrative Services Office of Risk Management (ORM) or with the state's insurance carrier. (Ohio Rev. Code § 2743.16(B) (2024).)

Other than the statute of limitations (discussed below), there's not a specific deadline on your time to submit a claim for settlement.

The Statute of Limitations

As a general rule, you have two years from the date you were injured to file a lawsuit in the Court of Claims. (Ohio Rev. Code § 2743.16(A) (2024).) But there's a catch: If the statute of limitations on the underlying claim is shorter than two years, you must file within the shorter time period.

For example, in most cases, Ohio's medical malpractice statute of limitations is just one year from the date of a malpractice-related injury. (Ohio Rev. Code § 2305.113(A) (2024).) Under the Court of Claims Act, then, if your claim against Ohio is for medical malpractice, you'll have to file your lawsuit within one year, not two.

Small Claims and Other Procedures

The Court of Claims has a special, expedited procedure for small claims. When you're asking for damages of $10,000 or less, most often your case will be decided by the Clerk of the Court of Claims instead of a judge. (Ohio Rev. Code § 2743.10(A) (2024).) The complicated rules that apply in most cases don't apply to small claims, and the procedures are informal. (Ohio Rev. Code § 2743.10(C) (2024).)

Finally, note that claims against Ohio for more than $10,000 must be tried to a judge. A jury trial isn't allowed. (Ohio Rev. Code § 2743.11 (2024).)

Claims Against Local Ohio Governments

The Political Subdivision Tort Liability Act starts by generally immunizing Ohio counties, townships, cities, and other political subdivisions—as well as their officers and employees—from any liability for what the law calls "governmental" or "proprietary" functions. (Ohio Rev. Code § 2744.02(A)(1) (2024).) Your lawyer can explain what governmental and proprietary functions are, if you care to know.

The law then:

• carves out several categories of claims for which political subdivisions can be sued
• tells you how long you have to file your lawsuit, and
• puts a limit on some of the damages you're allowed to collect.

Claims for Which Political Subdivisions Can Be Sued

Ohio Rev. Code § 2744.02(B) (2024) says that Ohio political subdivisions can be sued for damages arising from negligent:

• operation of motor vehicles, except for police and emergency vehicles responding to emergency calls
• performance of proprietary functions
• failure to maintain and repair public roads, and
• failure to maintain and repair public buildings, except for jails and other detention facilities.

Political subdivisions also can be sued for any other wrongful conduct specified by law. So, for example, political subdivisions can be on the legal hook for:

• medical malpractice at health facilities they own or operate, (Ohio Rev. Code § 2743.02(B) (2024),) and
• failure by a county to install guardrails at and around certain bridges as required by law. (Ohio Rev. Code § 5591.37 (2024).)

If you're unsure about whether you have a claim for which you can sue, speak to an Ohio government claims lawyer.

The Statute of Limitations

As with injury claims against Ohio, you typically have two years from the date you were hurt to sue a political subdivision for damages. But if the underlying claim is subject to a shorter filing deadline, you must file within the shorter deadline. (Ohio Rev. Code § 2744.04(A) (2024).)

Damage Limits

You'll be awarded compensatory damages if your injury claim against a political subdivision succeeds. As the name suggests, these damages are meant to compensate you for your injuries and losses. Compensatory damages fall into two categories:

• economic, or "special" damages, which generally reimburse you for expenses and losses that come out of your pocket or are paid by insurance, like medical bills, lost wages, and amounts you pay for replacement household services, and
• noneconomic, or "general" damages, designed to compensate you for losses that don't come directly out of your pocket such as pain and suffering, disfigurement, and loss of enjoyment of life.

You're allowed to collect as much in economic damages as you can prove. But your noneconomic damages are capped at a maximum of $250,000. (Ohio Rev. Code § 2744.05(C)(1) (2024).) Punitive damages aren't allowed.

Check With the Political Subdivision

Before you pursue an injury claim against a political subdivision, ask the clerk's office or law department about special notice, filing, or other rules you might be required to follow. Quite often, you can find some or all of this information online. Better yet, ask a local attorney for details.

Do You Need a Lawyer for Your Injury Claim Against the Government?

In a word, yes. Claims against the government are among the most complex and difficult of all personal injury actions. You'll face a daunting array of special laws, rules and procedures so convoluted and indecipherable that many lawyers who don't specialize in government claims simply won't touch them. The risk of error is too great.

Your government opponent will be represented by an army of lawyers. Without legal help in your corner, odds are you'll quickly find yourself in over your head. You only get one chance to present your claim. Make it count.

When you're ready to move forward with your claim, here's how to find an attorney who's right for you.