Ohio Employment Contracts Legal Questions

You may have a claim for a hostile work environment, but the HWE must be based upon your age, race, gender, diability, religion, national origin ... In other words the harassment cannot be because of a personality conflict or because your supervisor is a jerk.   - Ohio Employment Lawyer: mcoffmanlegal.com... Read More

Unless you have an employment agreement to the contrary (which can sometimes be formed from an employee handbook or orally), or you are being terminated for a reason prohibited by statute (i.e. race, gender, age, etc.), you can be terminated for any reason at any time.  No just cause is required.... Read More

Do you have an employment contract (which can be a union contract or can sometimes come from an employee manual) which provides either that you will be employed for a definite term or that you can only be fired for certain specified reasons (which, in any case, would probably include disobeying the orders of a superior)?  Do you believe that you are being discriminated against because of your race, gender, religion, etc.?  If not, you are employed at will, and can be fired at any time for any reason, including refusing to provide a resume and biography.... Read More

Assuming there is no employment agreement or handbook that prohibits it, and that your daughter's employer is not asking its employees to do anything illegal (like hacking computers to get phone numbers) or unethical (like lying in order to get the information), I don't think there is any reason why the employer can't impose a quota on obtaining information from customers much like any other production quota.... Read More

Nobody can force you to resign, however that doesn't mean that your employer can't fire your for cause, which would probably means no right to unemployment (you don't say whether you have any contractual right to severance).  You can seek unemployment and challenge the employer's claim that you were fired for cause and, if you are able to show that others in your situation were retained even though they did not move back to Ohio, you might win.  Also, you may have a claim for unlawful termination under one or more employment discrimination statutes if you can show that the whole Ohio business was a pretext, and you are actually being fired because of your race, religion, age, gender, etc.  One caveat - I'm basing this answer on U.S. law.  If you are now working in Canada, Canadian law may apply, and could be very different.  In general, I believe it is more favorable to employees than the law in most U.S. jurisdictions.... Read More

The answer is "it depends." If you sign the severance agreement because your employer requires you to do so (i.e., threatens to terminate you if you do not), you may be able to assert that you did not voluntarily quit when  your severance expires. In general, if you are looking for work and cannot find it, your application for unemployment benefits has a good chance of being successful.... Read More

The answer is "yes, but..." Two principles apply. First, mutual mistakes are not enforceable against the mistaken author of a contract; courts will generally "reform" such agreements to reflect the true intention of the parties. Assuming your employer can demonstrate that the parties' agreement was not really as reflected in the offer, then the offer will not be enforced as written. But there is a larger, more important problem (part two): employment in the United States is on an "at will" basis, which means that either party may unilaterally terminate the arrangement at any time for any reason or no reason at all. Unless your offer contains a "duration" term, your employer can terminate it, or unilaterally alter it, at any time. You have no remedy.... Read More

The terms of your employer's 401(k) plan are set fortuit plan document. That document alone determines your right to withdraw funds from your individual account while you are still employed. You must refer to the terms of the plan document, and an attorney cannot assist you in obtaining a withdrawal if the plan does not permit it.... Read More

No, the employer is not required to give you a copy of the document, unless there is a clause in the agreement requiring such.  If the employer were to try and enforce the agreement in court, the employer would need to attach the agreement to the complaint and serve you with a copy of the complaint and agreement. If you have any concerns about the agreement you should contact a local employment law attorney to discuss what options you may have. This is not intended to be legal advice, and is general in its nature. No attorney-client relationship exists or is formed by this information. Furthermore, this does not represent the views or opinions of LexisNexis or its affiliated companies.  ... Read More

You should contact an Employment Law attorney immediately.  If you are being terminated for reporting sexual harassment you may have legal recourse against the employer. This is not intended to be legal advice, and is general in its nature. No attorney-client relationship exists or is formed by this information. Furthermore, this does not represent the views or opinions of LexisNexis or its affiliated companies.... Read More

I cannot speak specifically to Ohio law or specific employment issues, but there is one area where being a felon is specifically relevant. If your boss offered any qualified benefit plans, he was probably the fiduciary or administrator of that plan.  According to ERISA, the federal statute that regulates most employee benefit plans, any person convicted of most felonies (the statute includes a pretty exhaustive list) cannot serve as a fiduciary, administrator, advisor, or nearly any other position of authority in an employee benefit plan.  See 29 USC 1111(a). The penalty for a violation of the statute can be a $10,000 fine and five years in prison. See 29 USC 1111(b).... Read More