Employers who paid into a workers' compensation fund in Ohio run by the state were granted $860 million in refunds Wednesday by a judge who ruled that the fund had overcharged some employers from 2001 to 2008.

Judge Richard J. McMonagle of Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court (Cleveland) ruled that an earlier decision be made final “without delay.”

More than 270,000 of the 300,000 employers in the class defined by the court would get refunds if the decision is sustained, according to plaintiffs' lawyers and spokesmen for the state fund.

The judge acted after rejecting the state workers' compensation fund's efforts to have the judgment amount altered using different calculations.

Officials of the state Workers Compensation Bureau responded by saying they were “disappointed” in the judge's order, “and we do plan an appeal.

“We maintain our actions were lawful and restitution is not warranted in this case,” OBWC officials said.

“Justice has prevailed,” said James DeRoche, a partner at Seaman Garson L.L.C., Cleveland, and a principal lawyer for the employers in the class-action lawsuit.

DeRoche said, “We are thrilled for all of the Ohio businesses who are owed restitution after suffering years of unlawful overcharges at the hands of the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation.”

He added, “As the judge found, the BWC knew for years that it was imposing excessive annual premiums on thousands of businesses, and also destroying many businesses with huge rate increases.”

DeRoche continued, “Now is the time for the BWC to do the right thing and immediately reimburse these businesses.  If the BWC is truly business friendly it will not further delay payment so tens of thousands of small businesses can reinvest those dollars into creating and protecting Ohio jobs.”

The decision ends one chapter in a lawsuit first filed in 2007.

In his final decision March 3, Monagle confirmed a ruling he first made Dec. 28.

In that decision, he held that the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation knowingly charged inequitable rates to some employers.

He found that by charging non-group employers excess premiums that the BWC knowingly created inequity, and that “the BWC engaged in a course of conduct that it knew violated the very purpose of the statute.”

In arguing that the court decision was wrong, BWC officials said in their statement, “We believe the dollars we've collected have been spent appropriately and that all Ohio businesses have benefitted and continue to benefit from BWC programs and services.”

They also said that under Ohio's current governor, John Kasich, “BWC has worked to maintain low and stable rates. Ohio's private employers have saved an estimated $210 million in premiums over the past two years, during which time BWC reduced base rates and reduced its administrative budget.”