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

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.

Civ.R. 56, summary judgment, employment discrimination, R.C. 4112. Plaintiff, a 58-year-old, African American, female employee of defendant, filed an action asserting that defendant unlawfully discriminated against her based upon her race and age when it failed to promote her and, instead, hired a 33-year-old, white female into the desired position. Defendant filed a motion for summary judgment, arguing that plaintiff could not prove her claim because she provided no evidence to show that defendant's nondiscriminatory reason for selecting the alternative candidate was pretext for discrimination. The court granted summary judgment in favor of defendant after finding that there was no genuine dispute of material fact as to the selected individual's qualifications for the position and plaintiff did not provide evidence sufficient to reasonably doubt defendant's nondiscriminatory explanation for hiring the alternative candidate instead of plaintiff.

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.

Civ.R. 56, hostile work environment, constructive discharge. Plaintiff failed to produce a genuine issue as to any material fact that he was subjected to a hostile work environment based on his race or national origin, or that he was constructively discharged. The alleged hostile actions and commentary made by other employees were not racially based and did not materially disrupt plaintiff's work. As plaintiff's experiences amounted to no more than ordinary tribulations of the workplace, plaintiff's hostile work environment claims failed. For the same reasons, plaintiff failed to sustain his constructive discharge claim. Summary judgment was granted in favor of defendant pursuant to Civ.R. 56.