Ohio Court of Appeals: Factual Issue Exists When Employee Fired After Good Performance Review

[Editor's Note: The Supreme Court vacated this decision on November 23, 2011 in light of Dohme. However, the Court of Appeals again reversed the employer's summary judgment on April 19, 2012, meaning this case is likely to return to the Supreme Court].

Earlier this month, the Cuyahoga County Court of Appeals reversed summary judgment in favor of an employer on a claim of wrongful discharge in violation of public policy. Alexander v. Cleveland Clinic Foundation, 2011-Ohio-2924. In that case, a private police officer working for the Foundation says he was attempting to help a pedestrian cross at a crosswalk when a driver ignored his motions to stop and continued through the crosswalk. He smacked the side-view mirror as the car passed – he says to get its attention. However, the driver later complained about the incident and a formal investigation was conducted. The employee had sometime earlier lost his temper with a bus driver who knocked him down in the street and he had been counseled to watch his temper. He had recently received a performance commendation and made a training officer and had received only satisfactory and mostly satisfactory performance evaluation. He was fired – purportedly just for slapping the driver’s mirror as it passed – and not for his overall work record. He claimed that his termination violated Ohio’s public policy requiring an officer to enforce traffic laws. The employer said he was fired for poor customer service skills. The Court’s majority decided that the factual dispute should be left to a jury, although the dissent felt that there was no clear public policy favoring the employee’s claim.

NOTICE: This summary is designed merely to inform and alert you of recent legal developments. It does not constitute legal advice and does not apply to any particular situation because different facts could lead to different results. Information here can change or be amended without notice. Readers should not act upon this information without legal advice. If you have any questions about anything you have read, you should consult with or retain an employment attorney.