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The Role of Depositions in a Workers’ Compensation Court Appeal
If your company has never been party to a lawsuit, you may not know what a deposition is and why a deposition is important in a workers’ compensation appeal.In the event that you find your company a party to a workers’ compensation appeal in the court of common pleas, you will most likely be contacted by your attorney regarding the scheduling of depositions.
A deposition is the opportunity to question an injured worker, witness, or medical provider, under oath, regarding the circumstances resulting in the alleged occupational injury or disease. Depositions are transcribed by a court reporter who attends the deposition and records all the questions of counsel and the answers of the deponent (the person being deposed). Depositions may also be videotaped for playback at a subsequent hearing or trial. In a workers’ compensation appeal, it is often helpful to depose the injured worker, their medical expert, and any fact witness or medical provider who the injured worker may call to testify at trial.
Deposition testimony is helpful for a number of reasons. First, it allows your attorney the opportunity to discover facts not previously known, such as the identity of a doctor who treated an injured worker or the specifics of an injured worker’s medical history. Second, deposition testimony can be used to contradict or impeach an injured worker or witness’ testimony at trial in order to bring their credibility into question. For example, if an injured worker “changes his story” at trial regarding how he was injured, deposition testimony can be used to impeach him during cross-examination by showing that the injured worker has given inconsistent answers during deposition and at trial. Lastly, deposition testimony can be useful in determining the value of a case for purpose of settlement.
In addition to depositions taken during the discovery portion of a case, Ohio law provides that the testimony of expert medical witnesses can be recorded by way of deposition and later presented to the jury as a video replay at trial. This provides a substantial savings for employers as they are not burdened with the expense of paying for an expert witness to wait days or hours at court for their opportunity to testify.
Depositions are an important tool in the workers’ compensation litigator’s tool box as they provide an effective means to both prepare for and succeed at trial. If your company has questions concerning depositions or workers’ compensation litigation in general, please do not hesitate to contact Scott Gedeon.