Wednesday, February 28, 2018

Ohio Court of Appeals Finds Public Policy Jeopardized by Discharge of Waitress for Objecting to Employer’s Payroll Tax Evasion


Earlier this month, the Ohio Court of Appeals recognized a public policy wrongful discharge claim when a waitress was fired for objecting to her employer’s failure to properly pay all unemployment taxes on her account.  House v. Iacovelli, 2018-Ohio-443. “While the administrative appeal process [to challenge the amount of awarded benefits] provides a viable mechanism to challenge a determination of benefits, it fails to set forth a remedial scheme for a situation such as this where an employee is terminated merely for inquiring about why her pay did not reflect the amount she had earned.”  The Court also found that failing to recognize such a claim would chill public policy because employees would not report such payroll failures if they could be fired for bringing them to the employer’s attention.

According to the Court’s opinion, the plaintiff waitress alleged in her complaint that she confronted the restaurant’s owner about her payroll stubs underreporting her wages and tips.  He allegedly admitted that he had underreported her income and failed to make all of the required contributions in violation of Ohio Revised Code Chapter 4141.  She “further alleged that instead of addressing the issue, [he]  accused [her] of creating “too much drama” and terminated her employment.”  Thereafter, she alleged that he requested that she mislead ODFJS by claiming that she was laid off for lack of work and he agreed to give her $150 every two weeks to make up for the unemployment tax shortfall.

Even though the defendant failed to file a timely motion to dismiss or summary judgment motion, the trial court dismissed the claim on the eve of trial on the basis that the plaintiff failed to satisfy the jeopardy element for public policy wrongful discharge claims.  That trial court found that the sole remedy under ORC 4141 was for the Attorney General to bring suit; no individual remedies were created.  The Court of Appeals reversed on the grounds that the statutes “fail to adequately protect society’s public policy interest in establishing and maintaining an unemployment compensation program.”

The Supreme Court of Ohio has explained that analyzing the jeopardy element of  a public policy wrongful termination action requires assessing whether prohibiting the action from going forward would compromise the objectives of the public policy in question.   . . .  Thus,“[a]n analysis of the jeopardy element necessarily involves inquiring into the existence of any alternative means of promoting the particular public policy to be vindicated by the common-law wrongful discharge claim.”   . . .  The public policy expressed in a statute is not jeopardized by the absence of a wrongful termination action when the aggrieved employee “has an alternate means of vindicating his or her statutory rights[,] [] thereby discouraging an employer from engaging in the unlawful conduct.”  Id.  “Wiles made clear that the method to determine whether a plaintiff can file statutory and public policy causes of action involves reviewing the adequacy of the remedy, not ensuring the aggrieved party receives the greatest recovery.”   . . .  “[A] remedy is not inadequate merely because it does not allow for all avenues of recovery.”  Coon at ¶ 22.

While society’s interests may be protected by the Attorney General’s intervention and the employee may have the right to file an administrative appeal to challenge unemployment benefits that are awarded, the statute fails to address any remedies for an employee when an employer refused to comply with the statute. “[W]e emphasized in Coon that “the purpose of a remedy in a  wrongful termination case is * * * to deter the employer from violating the law and to place the  employee in the position they would have been had the employer not violated the law.”  However,   the statute “does not contain any provision that would provide [the plaintiff] with a “meaningful opportunity” to return to the position she occupied prior to the adverse employment action.”    Therefore, the statutory remedies are inadequate and the plaintiff has satisfied the jeopardy element of a public policy wrongful discharge 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 be changed or 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.