Following his injury, the employee filed a workers’ compensation claim and received temporary total benefits. The employer conducted an investigation of the cause of the employee’s injury, and after six months, the employer terminated the employee because of his violation of the written policy and numerous warnings not to clean the deep fryer with water. At the same time, the employer moved the Industrial Commission to terminate the employee’s receipt of temporary total benefits because the employee voluntarily abandoned his employment when he violated the policy. At issue was whether the employee could still receive temporary total benefits where his injury was caused by his violation of the work policy.

After a number of administrative hearings, the issue was appealed to the court system, and eventually found its way to the Ohio Supreme Court. The Court found that the employee voluntarily abandoned his job when he failed to follow company safety procedures after repeated instructions to do so. The Court further found that the employee was not entitled to temporary total benefits due to his voluntary abandonment of his employment.