HR Specialist: Ohio Employment Law

Ohio hits employers with more record-keeping requirements and fewer rights than other states. Aggressive attorneys don’t stop with federal laws like FMLA, ADA and FLSA: they use state and local living-wage statutes, rural codes, plus discrimination and other laws to sue employers for sky’s-the-limit damages. This Ohio-specific newsletter arrives monthly to help sue-proof every aspect of HR. Written in plain English, it’s your insurance policy for staying in step with current interpretations of state and local laws – and staying out of court. Learn more about HR Specialist: Ohio Employment Law and the free report you’ll get when you subscribe...

When an employee is discharged shortly after returning from FMLA leave, she may charge retaliation. The timing alone may be enough to send the case to trial. If an employer has a solid reason for the firing, however, it can win.

Recent case: Pamela Ningard took all her available FMLA leave. Shortly after returning to work, she was assigned to help a customer conduct an on-site inventory. On that job, she allegedly lied to one of the customer’s employees about her company’s business practices. When Ningard’s employer found out about the incident, it fired her.

She sued, alleging FMLA retaliation.

But the court said the company had a legitimate reason to fire her: It believed she was spreading disruptive lies. (Ningard v. Shin Etsu, No. 25424, Court of Appeals of Ohio, 2009)