Government Agency Websites

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

The EEOC enforces federal laws against discrimination in the workplace. Answers to many questions about what the laws prohibit and allow, and how they laws can be enforced, are provided here. If you have a question about race, sex, religion, national origin, age, or disability discrimination or harassment, this is a good site for you.

Ohio Civil Rights Commission

This is the site for the Ohio agency that has responsibility for enforcing Ohio State laws similar to the federal laws enforced by the EEOC.

United States Department of Labor

The Department of Labor provides useful information to answer questions about workers' wages, safety at work, and right to take medical leave. You will also find information about protections required for employees who are considered whistleblowers under many federal laws.

National Labor Relations Board

This agency is responsible for enforcing the laws the regulate the relationship between employers and employees who act together to address the terms or conditions of their employment. In most cases this means the relationship between employer and union. But a union is not always required to be involved. In addition, if you are a union member with a dispute between you and your union, the NLRB's website may have useful information for you.

Social Security Administration

The Social Security Administration`s Web site provides information about Retirement, Survivors and Disability Insurance Benefits, and Supplemental Security Income. The site also provides wage reporting information for employers.

Ohio Office of Unemployment Compensation Review Commission

If you are an employee with a question about obtaining unemployment benefits in Ohio or an employer with questions about paying your unemployment compensation tax, this website will probably help you.

Courts

The United States Supreme Court

The home page for the Court that establishes federal law for the entire United States.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

The home page for the Court that decides federal cases for Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan, and Tennessee.

United States District Court Northern District Ohio

Find out about who the judges are, what cases are going on, and what the rules are in the federal court for northern Ohio.

The Ohio Supreme Court

The home page for the Court that establishes the law for Ohio.

Ohio Eighth District Court of Appeals

This is the Court that hears appeals taken from courts in Cuyahoga County. Through this web site you can meet the Judges and staff, learn about the operation of the Court and its schedule, have basic questions answered, access court opinions, and tour the building.

Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas

Check the status of any case in this court. A search engine will allow you to see the docket for any case here. You can also find infromation about jury duty and other court functions.

Ohio Ninth District Court of Appeals

This is the Court that hears appeals taken from cases in Lorain, Medina, Summit, and Wayne counties. This web site provides a glimpse into what the Court of Appeals does and how it functions on a daily basis. It also contains various points of information regarding the history of the Court, the judges who currently serve, and the judicial process overall.

Lorain County Court of Common Pleas

Check the status of any case in this court. A search engine will allow you to see the docket for any case here. You can also find infromation about jury duty and other court functions.

Summit County Court of Common Pleas

Check the status of any case in this court. A search engine will allow you to see the docket for any case here. You can also find infromation about jury duty and other court functions.

Ohio Eleventh District Court of Appeals

This is the Court that hears appeals taken from cases in Ashtabula, Geauga, Lake, Portage and Trumbull counties. This web site provides a glimpse into what the Court of Appeals does and how it functions on a daily basis. It also contains various points of information regarding the judges, the court records, the court decisions, and the judicial process overall.

Geauga County Clerk of Courts

This office processes all cases for Geauga County Common Pleas Court, civil and criminal divisions. In addition, the Geauga County Clerk of Courts office processes passport applications, records notaries, records judgment liens, issues warrants and summons, processes bonds, maintains jury records, issues service, records and collects court costs, and disburses costs to other local, county and state agencies. If you want to see the status of any case being handled by the Geauga County Court of Common Pleas, you can find the information here.

Lake County Court of Common Pleas

Check the status of any case in this court. A search engine will allow you to see the docket for any case here. You can also find infromation about jury duty and other court functions.

Legal Research

Ohio State Legal Services Association

OSLSA is a nonprofit law firm founded in 1966 by the Ohio State Bar Association. This link takes you to the OSLSA law library. Here you will find descriptions of a wide variety of laws that apply in Ohio, including workplace laws.

Legal Basics For Small Business

This link is to a page within the website for the Ohio State Bar Association. The OSBA published a book with many useful articles about business and employment concerns. The book is now available online through this link.

Nolo.com

A site with numerous articles on employer and employee rights and obligations.

EEO News

A site with employment law case headlines and links to other employmnet law related resources.

Bar Associations and Other Employment Related Organizations

National Employment Lawyers Association

An organization of lawyers dedicated to advocating for employee rights. Search here for the names of lawyers dedicated to representing employees and to learn about current issues in the law that are effecting employees and employers. 

The American Bar Association

The American Bar Association provides plenty of useful information not only for lawyers but also for the general public. This link will take you to a page about employment laws.

Ohio State Bar Association

This organization also provides the public with useful information. The link provided here will take you to a page about alternative dispute resolution in Ohio.

Ohio Employment Lawyers Association

An affiliate of the National Employment Lawyers Association, OELA is an organization of Ohio lawyers dedicated to representing employees. At this site you will find a roster of the lawyers with information about how to contact them.

Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association

The Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association serves lawyers and the public in Northeast Ohio. Here is a link to the CMBA's homepage.

Workplace Fairness

This is a terrific site for searching general and legal information about employee rights.

The Alexander Hamilton Institute

The Alexander Hamilton Institute helps executives manage their companies and their careers. AHI publishes newsletters, booklets, and looseleaf manuals targeted to top management, Human Resource directors, Personnel managers, front-line managers, and supervisors at small-to-medium sized firms. This site has extensive information regarding various human resources issues.

Employment Discrimination

Ohio employment discrimination laws and Federal employment discrimination laws protect workers against certain unfair and discriminatory employment practices. An employee unfairly discriminated against on the basis of race, color, age, disability, religion, pregnancy, sex, sexual harassment, marital status, military status, ancestry, or national origin may be entitled to the following:

• Job Reinstatement
• Pay lost from the date of the job loss until the date of judgment
• Pay lost for a reasonable time beyond the date of judgment
• Compensation for Loss of Employment Benefits
• Pain, Suffering, and Mental Anguish Damages
• Punitive Damages
• Attorney Fees

Q: What is unlawful discrimination?

A: Ohio employment discrimination laws and federal employment discrimination laws alike protect employees and job applicants from employment discrimination. In Ohio, the primary source for protecting employees against discrimination is the Ohio Fair Employment Practices Act. The statutes that comprise this act can be found at Ohio Revised Code Chapter 4112. Federal laws prohibiting discrimination include: Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; the Americans with Disabilities Act; the Pregnancy Discrimination Act; the Age Discrimination in Employment Act; the Fair Labor Standards Act; and the Equal Pay Act.

Q: I was the victim of discrimination or harassment. What should I do?

A: If you are already employed, you should, if possible, follow any internal rules or polices regarding discrimination or harassment. If that does not work, you should find an employment lawyer to have your case reviewed. When asking an employment lawyer to review your case, always ask first whether the employment lawyer will be charging you a fee, and if so, how much the fee will be. If you do not want to contact an employment lawyer you can pursue your claim alone by going directly to an agency that enforces the law. Examples of these agencies are The Ohio Civil Rights Commission and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. For many types of discrimination, before you can file a lawsuit against an employer you must file a claim with a government agency such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. But in some cases if you file a discrimination claim with a government agency like the Ohio Civil Rights Commission you may have chosen one path for your remedy and foreclosed all others. Therefore, consulting with an employment lawyer before filing claims is always wise.

Q: I am a small business owner. Do I need to worry about discrimination laws?

A: Yes. Almost all private employers and the State of Ohio, its governmental agencies, and political subdivisions are subject to employment discrimination laws. In addition, individual supervisors can be personally liable. The various discrimination statutes often limit the size of the employer that is covered by the statute. For example, an Ohio employer must have 4 or more employees within the state before the Ohio Fair Employment Practices Act applies. But other laws like the law concerning wrongful discharge in violation of Ohio public policy may extend discrimination laws to even the smallest employers.

Q: What is an unlawful employment practice for an employer?

A: An employer can engage in unlawful employment practices in many different ways. The laws governing the relationship between an employer and its employees are varied and complex. Every employer should seek legal counsel periodically to review their primary employment practices and significant changes. But in general, the most common sources for employment discrimination claims arise when an employer:

• Makes a hiring decision based on a person's race, color, religion, pregnancy, sex, disability, military status, ancestry, or national origin.
• Fires someone based on a person's race, color, religion, pregnancy, sex, disability, military status, ancestry, or national origin.
• Takes adverse action based on a person's race, color, religion, pregnancy, sex, disability, military status, ancestry, or national origin.

Q: Does an employer need a legitimate reason to fire and employee?

A: In general, Ohio law provides that all employees are at-will and can be fired for almost any reason. Employers are not required to give any warnings or notice. But employers cannot fire an employee based on race, color, religion, pregnancy, sex, disability, military status, ancestry, or national origin. In some locations like the city of Cleveland, Ohio, employers are also prohibited from firing an employee based on sexual orientation. Employers also are not allowed to fire an at-will employee for reasons that would violate Ohio public policy. Some examples of recognized public policies are:

• Giving truthful testimony under oath
• Contacting an attorney to discuss employment rights
• Reporting crimes
• Refusing to participate in insurance fraud
• Taking almost any action protected by statute

An at-will employee fired for any of these reasons may have a case for wrongful discharge.

Q: Does an employee handbook create a contract of employment?

A: Under Ohio law, an employee handbook can create a contractual relationship between an employer and an employee. In other words, handbooks can create obligations on the part of the employer to employ an employee for a specific period unless the employer has just cause to terminate employment before that period ends. Whether a handbook creates a contract between an employee and an employer depends on the particular language in the handbook.

In Ohio, employment is presumed to be at-will unless evidence to the contrary exists. At-will employment means that the relationship can be terminated by either side for any reason at any time. Contrary evidence must show an agreement that the employment will last for a specific, limited, period. A handbook that contains such a promise will be evidence contrary to an at-will employment relationship and create a contractual relationship between the employer and employee.

Such promises are often expressed or implied in handbooks containing progressive discipline policies and probationary period policies. These are not the only sections of a handbook that contain promises of continued employment, but they are the most common.

Most employers include language in the discipline and probation policies that reserve to the employer the discretion to terminate the employment relationship at any time. If the handbook contains any such reservation for the employer, then the handbook should not create any contractual rights. If, however, the employer fails to reserve that right and implies or expresses certain rights to progressive discipline, a contractual promise can exist.

Nevertheless, an employer can still draft a handbook to prevent changing the at-will employment relationship. Even if the handbook contains provisions that might be read to imply a promise of continued employment for a specific duration, the employer can protect the at-will relationship by including an appropriate disclaimer in the handbook. These disclaimers are usually obvious and contain express reference to the at-will employment relationship. Typically, the disclaimer appears at the beginning or end of the handbook, and often employers require their employees to sign a form acknowledging receipt of the handbook and the at-will employment disclaimer.