## Facts

- Delores Broach, an employee of Midland Steel Products Company, fell at work on February 7, 1980, and sought workers’ compensation for injuries to her lower back and ankle.
- She received medical attention and was examined by her physician, Dr. Sheldon Kaffen, and by Midland’s physician, Dr. John Posch.
- In June 1980, Broach filed a C-50 workers’ compensation application; she listed the nature of her injury as to her lower back and did not list an ankle injury, and identified witnesses as “unknown.”
- The Bureau of Workers’ Compensation allowed the claim, and the Industrial Commission affirmed over Midland’s objection.
- Midland appealed to the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas; at the jury trial, Midland sought to admit the C-50 as evidence to challenge Broach’s credibility and the ankle portion of the claim.
- The trial court excluded the C-50 from the jury’s consideration (while permitting it in the record for a limited purpose related to physician–patient privilege).
- The jury found Broach sustained work-related injuries to both her back and ankle, and judgment was entered for Broach.

## Issues

1. Whether the trial court committed reversible error by excluding Broach’s C-50 application from evidence at trial.
2. Whether exclusion of the C-50, if error, materially prejudiced Midland’s substantial rights.
3. Whether the jury’s finding that Broach suffered compensable back and ankle injuries was supported by competent, credible evidence.

## Decision

- The court of appeals affirmed the judgment entered on the jury’s verdict.
- The trial court’s exclusion of the C-50 did not warrant reversal because evidentiary rulings are discretionary and Midland did not show material prejudice.
- The verdict was supported by some competent, credible evidence on the existence and work-relatedness of both injuries.
- Disputes about credibility and the weight of medical and lay testimony were for the jury to resolve.

## Legal Principles

- A trial court’s decisions to admit or exclude evidence are reviewed for abuse of discretion; reversal requires both error and material prejudice.
- In a common-pleas-court appeal of an Industrial Commission decision, an appellate court will not disturb a jury’s factual findings when supported by some competent, credible evidence on the essential elements.
- An omission of an injury from an early administrative filing may be used for impeachment, but it does not automatically preclude recovery when trial evidence supports the injury and causation.

## Conclusion

The court of appeals upheld the workers’ compensation judgment for Broach, concluding that exclusion of the C-50 form was not reversible error absent a showing of prejudicial abuse of discretion and that competent, credible evidence supported the jury’s finding of compensable back and ankle injuries.


Broach v. Midland Steel Prods. Co., 16 Ohio App. 3d 425, 476 N.E.2d 374 (Ohio Ct. App. 8th Dist. 1984)