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Lloyd v. Ohio Dept. of Rehab. & Corr.

Ohio Ct. App.May 23, 2017No. 16AP-499Cited 3 times
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Case Details

Judge(s)
Tyack, Klatt
Status — whether other courts must follow this ruling
Published

Related Laws

No specific laws identified for this ruling.

Excerpt

Open and obvious doctrine did not apply to inmate's use of a device to control window opening. Case remanded for a determination as to comparative negligence.

What This Ruling Means

# Lloyd v. Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction **What Happened** An inmate was injured while using a device to open and close a window in a state correctional facility. The facility claimed they weren't responsible because the danger of the window device was "open and obvious"—meaning it should have been clear that using it could cause injury. **What the Court Decided** The court disagreed. It ruled that the "open and obvious" defense did not apply in this case. The court sent the case back to a lower court to determine how much responsibility each party shared for the accident. **Why This Matters for Workers** This ruling protects workers and inmates in institutional settings. It establishes that employers cannot simply claim something is obviously dangerous and wash their hands of responsibility. Instead, facilities must ensure their equipment is reasonably safe. Even when dangers seem obvious, employers still have a duty to prevent foreseeable injuries. This applies to regular employees too—your employer cannot ignore safety hazards just by saying the danger should have been obvious to you.

This summary was generated to explain the ruling in plain English and is not legal advice.

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