Cephas v. Ohio Dept. of Rehab. & Corr.

The Court of Claims of Ohio did not err in granting appellee's Civ.R. 12(B)(1) motion to dismiss for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. The collective bargaining agreement between the parties provides for final and binding arbitration, and all three of appellant's claims relate to employment matters covered by the collective bargaining agreement. Thus, pursuant to R.C. 4117.10(A), arbitration was appellant's exclusive remedy, and the Court of Claims lacked subject-matter jurisdiction to hear her claims. Judgment affirmed.

Objections Civ.R. 53(D) Disability Discrimination Reasonable Accommodation Assault Battery Ratification. After trial, plaintiff filed objections to the magistrate's decision. The court overruled plaintiff's objections on her disability discrimination claims, finding that plaintiff's requests for transfer to two other facilities were not reasonable accommodations. However, the court sustained plaintiff's objection on her assault and battery claims, finding defendant ratified its employee's assault and battery upon plaintiff. Therefore, the court modified the magistrate's decision, rendered judgment in favor of plaintiff on her assault and battery claims, and referred the case to the magistrate for a determination of damages on the assault and battery claims.

Court of Claims did not err by granting summary judgment in favor of employer on race and age discrimination claims. Appellant failed to demonstrate that employer's proffered reason for not hiring her was pretext for race or age discrimination. Appellant was not a plainly superior candidate for the position, given the candidates' relative qualifications, and she failed to demonstrate other probative evidence of discrimination. Judgment affirmed.

Negligence; emergency call; public duty; proximate cause. Plaintiff was driving a semi-trailer while stopped at a traffic light. Defendant's employee, a state trooper, negligently drove his vehicle into plaintiff's trailer. The evidence did not support defendant's argument that the trooper was on an emergency call at the time of the incident. The public duty rule also did not apply in this situation. However, plaintiff failed to prove that the minor traffic incident was the proximate cause of his personal injury and request for damages. Judgment for defendant.

Civ.R. 56; motion for summary judgment; race discrimination; age discrimination; hostile work environment; retaliation. Defendant was entitled to summary judgment on plaintiff's claim that defendant unlawfully discriminated against her based on race and age because plaintiff could not establish a prima facie case of age discrimination and the evidence presented showed that defendant terminated plaintiff's employment for a legitimate, non-discriminatory purpose. Defendant was also entitled to summary judgment on plaintiff's claim for hostile work environment because none of the evidence showed that the alleged harassment that plaintiff experienced was based upon race or age. Finally, defendant was entitled to summary judgment on plaintiff's claim for retaliation because plaintiff could not establish a prima facie case of retaliation as plaintiff could not show a causal connection between her protected activity and the termination of her employment. Judgment for defendant.