Ohio Employment Legal Questions

Hi Monique!  Unfortunately, Ohio is an "At Will" employment State.  "At will" means that your employer can terminate you for any reason, or no reason at all.   However, if you were terminated because of your membership in a protected class, you may have a claim.  For example, if you were terminated due to your race, sex, national origin, disability, or religion, your employer violated the law.  You could pursue discrimination claims against them by filing a civil rights charge and/or going to court.  When you speak to an attorney, you need to identify why you think you may be protected. It is also possible that there were other reasons for your discharge.  For example, if you called OSHA or filed a Workers Compensation claim and your employer was angry with you for doing that, you may have a claim. But, if you were fired because a manager wanted to hire their friend to take your spot, that is not legally actionable.  ... Read More

Wow.  There is a lot going on here.  I believe you have a claim for disability discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act (if the employer has 15 or more employees) and under Ohio law.  There may also be some ERISA issues to explore given the comments about the health insurance.  You should definitely speak with an attorney and/or file a claim with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.  Their website is located at www.eeoc.gov. ... Read More

By calling you "salaried" the employer is attempting to categorize you as exempt from overtime.  In order to determine whether you are truly exempt, an attorney would need to examine the duties and responsibilities of your position.  For example, do you supervise employees?  Do you hire, fire, discipline, or direct the duties of subordinates?  If you take 1/2 day off, are you paid for the whole day?  These are some of the questions that need to be examined.... Read More

In Ohio, you qualify for unemployment benefits when you are terminated through no fault of your own AND you are ready, willing, and able to work.  If you received, then lost unemployment benefits, it probably means that your former employer appealed the original decision.  You have an opportunity to appeal, the second decision, but you have to be very aware of the deadline.  You should refer to the last page of the decision.  It will explain your appeal rights.   If you've already missed the deadline, it is hard to recover.  In many cases, if you owe the State money due to an unemployment "overpayment," the Attorney General's office will work out a payment plan with you and/or deduct it from any future benefits.... Read More

Contact an employment attorney. Your rights are probably being violated by them not paying overtime and treating you as an independent contractor instead of as an employee. For example, you should be receiving overtime pay for all hours worked over 40 each week. As a result of the failure to pay overtime, you should receive your unpaid overtime wages, additional damages, and attorney's fees. Feel free to contact my office for a free consultation at 614-949-1181.   Ohio wage and hour lawyer www.mcoffmanlegal.com ... Read More

You may not have an ability to do so. Only certain types of retaliation are prohibited. If you are experiencing discrimination because of your age, race, gender, disability, religion, etc. then you should submit a written complaint. However, you should speak with an employment attorney before taking any action.    Ohio employment discrimination attorney www.mcoffmanlegal.com ... Read More

Your former employer is allowed to tell the truth about why you are no longer employed.  Contrary to popular belief, there is no law that prohibits former employers from telling prospective employers why you were terminated.   Although this is true, many employers adhere to a policy of providing only "neutral" references.  They provide only the dates of employment and position held because they fear being sued for defamation. However, truth is a defense to defamation. With regard to the questions that a prospective employer may ask a candidate for employment, there are quite a few areas to avoid: age, marital status, religion, military service and others.  But yes, employers may ask you why you were terminated from your previous employment. I advise my clients to be as straight-forward as possible when explaining why they left their previous employment.  Don't blame or criticize your former employer.  Deal with the facts and move on to something more positive.  For example, if you were terminated due to tardiness, you could say, "I went through a rough patch and was late for work on several occaisions.  I let my employer down and I feel bad about it.  Now I have good, reliable transportation, I've trained myself to get up earlier in the morning, and I'm determined to never let that happen again." Good Luck!... Read More

There is an inherent contradiction between seeking unemployment benefits and seeking Social Security Disability. In order to qualify for unemployment benefits, you need to certify that you are able to work and seek work. In order to qualify for Social Security Disability (or SSI) you have to represent that you are not able to work. In some situations, for example, if your old job was one that was particularly accommodating to your disabilities, Social Security and Unemployment might not be incompatible at all. But in many cases, seeking both at once can raise questions. The fact that you applied for and are receiving unemployment benefits may turn out to be a matter of some concern when Social Security evaluates your eligibility for benefits. (Likewise Social Security will likely consider that you were recently employed, and you may be asked to provide information about why you left your job.) This may end up creating some problems in your Social Security case, though not necessarily fatal ones. Unemployment, on the other hand, requires that you be able to work and to seek work. It is quite possible that you are able to do only a very limited scope of work due to your impairments, or even that you are not entirely sure whether you can work or not. Practically speaking though, if you have already been awarded unemployment benefits, so long as you continue to seek work and your conscience allows you to certify that you are willing and able to work, it is highly unlikely that the filing of a Social Security claim is going to trigger any re-examination of your unemployment eligibility. I have never seen this happen, though I guess I cannot say it would be impossible.... Read More

Hello. If your contract had a definite term of five (5) years, you may have a breach of contract claim against the company.  It depends on whether your termination (as described in your question) was contemplated by the agreement.  In other words, does the contract allow termination under these circumstances, without penalty to the company?  I would need to read the agreement.  One month's salary doesn't seem like much and if you have a claim against the company, you could possibly negotiate a more generous package.  Does the contract contemplate a severance package for early termination of the agreement?  ... Read More

Your employer cannot force you to work "off-the-clock." If your employer forces you to do work "off-the-clock" they are violating the wage and hour laws. I would encourage you to contact my office for a free consultation so we can fully discuss what is occurring at work. You should be paid for all of the hours you work and if you work over 40 hours in any week, then you are entitled to overtime pay.   Ohio overtime attorney www.mcoffmanlegal.com ... Read More

First, regarding your eligibility for FMLA:  if you have been with the company for 12 months (including temp time) and you have worked 1250 hours, you are eligible for 12 weeks of FMLA.  If you've already used some FMLA time, you need to be careful about counting your weeks of eligibility.   Regarding unemployment, if the company denies your request for additional leave and you are terminated, you will be eligible for unemployment once you are released to return to work by your doctor. In Ohio, if you are "ready, willing, and able to work" and you are terminated "through no fault of your own" then you are eligible for unemployment.  The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services administers unemployment.  They will want to see your doctor's release. Finally, you should explore a pregnancy discrimination claim against your employer.  From the facts in your question, I can't tell if it applies here, but it's worth considering.... Read More