Losing your job often leaves questions that your employer’s explanation does not answer. Ohio businesses have broad authority to end at-will employment, but state and federal law set limits. These 10 situations offer a starting point for understanding whether your dismissal went beyond them.
1. Retaliation for a workers’ compensation claim
Ohio law prohibits firing you for filing a workers’ compensation claim, even if your employer uses restructuring as an excuse. To preserve a retaliation suit under this statute, your employer must receive written notice of the alleged violation within 90 days of your dismissal, and you must file suit within 180 days of your dismissal.
2. Discrimination based on protected traits
Firing you for reasons such as your race, sex, religion or age (40 or older) is illegal. If the company retained younger, lower-performing colleagues while dismissing you, that choice may indicate age bias.
3. Dismissal for taking family or medical leave
The Family and Medical Leave Act entitles you to your previous position, or an equivalent one, when your covered leave ends. If your employer cites reorganization to deny reinstatement, it must prove that you would have lost your job even without taking leave.
4. Failure to accommodate a disability
You request a modified schedule to manage a disability and can still perform your essential job duties. If your employer fires you instead of considering a reasonable adjustment that would not cause significant difficulty or expense, the dismissal may constitute discrimination.
5. Retaliation for reporting workplace violations
Ohio’s whistleblower statute may protect you when you disclose a suspected felony at work or a crime that endangers the public. To qualify, you generally must give oral notice to a supervisor and follow it with a detailed written report. Federal law separately prohibits firing you for raising workplace safety concerns.
6. Dismissal for jury service
Ohio law bars your employer from dismissing you from a permanent job for serving on a jury if you gave reasonable advance notice of the summons. The company does not remove this protection by labeling your absence “unexcused.”
7. Breach of an employment agreement
Your written contract might guarantee a three-year term. If your employer dismisses you before that period ends, it must comply with the agreement, including any cause or severance requirements.
8. Retaliation for reporting harassment
Federal and Ohio law prohibit punishing you for a good-faith complaint about harassment you reasonably believe is unlawful. If your employer places you on an unjustified performance improvement plan two weeks later, it may help connect your dismissal to that report.
9. Retaliation for an overtime complaint
When you raise unpaid overtime with management, federal wage law protects you from retaliation if you clearly assert your right to that pay. Ohio law also forbids firing you for such a complaint.
10. Failure to pay earned commissions
Your employer still owes commissions you earned before your dismissal under the compensation plan. A court reviews its terms, including any requirement to remain with the company through the payment date, to determine whether you had a right to that money.