Wrongful Termination Cases

We affirmed the Court of Claims' judgment which granted the Civ.R. 56 motion for summary judgment of appellee finding appellant's termination was not based on her disabilities and that appellee was not required to engage in the interactive process for a reasonable accomodation.

Nonprofit Corporation Act, statutory interpretation, termination of membership

Trial court's Civ.R. 12(B)(6) dismissal of declaratory judgment claim in combined complaint for mandamus and declaratory judgment reversed. Decision on appeal addresses when those two causes of action may be brought in same complaint. Withdrawn administrative appeal by unclassified employee not sufficient to overcome enforcement of former employee's claims by declaratory judgment. Judgment reversed.

Workers' compensation compensability of injury employer-funded disability payment credit Industrial Commission's authority to amend deputy commissioner's opinion and award issue preservation

The defendant-union, CCRI Educational Support Professional Association/NEARI, appealed to the Supreme Court after a justice of the Superior Court vacated an arbitration award that had reinstated the grievant, Michael Crenshaw, to his position as a Campus Police Officer for the plaintiff, the Community College of Rhode Island. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the arbitrator exceeded his powers by deciding a grievance that was not arbitrable. The Supreme Court concluded that Crenshaw was not eligible to become a permanent police officer because he had neither completed the statutorily required police training academy nor received a waiver from having to do so, and thus the arbitrator lacked the authority to reinstate Crenshaw to a position that he could not legally hold

Judgment affirmed. The trial court did not err when it granted summary judgment in favor of appellee. Under Ohio's borrowing statute, R.C. 2305.03, and controlling choice of law principles, Tennessee law applied to appellant's wrongful termination claims. Consequently, appellant's claims were time-barred under that state's statute of limitations.

Last injurious exposure Average weekly wage calculation North Carolina Full Industrial Commission authority to amend an award

Summary judgment/Employer intentional tort/Spoliation of evidence/Property claims

Core Terms: public record court of claims R.C. 2743.75 R.C. 149.43 R.C. 149.011(A) public office functional equivalent person responsible foundation trade secret. Overview: Requester sought a speaker contract entered into by Tri-C Foundation, a non-profit entity incorporated to solicit and receive contributions for a community college. Respondent argued that the foundation was not the functional equivalent of a public office. The special master recommended that the court find the foundation was both the functional equivalent of a public office, and a "person responsible for public records." The special master further recommended that the court find no part of the contract constituted trade secret, and that the court should grant requester's claim for disclosure.

The plaintiff, Boghos Terzian, appealed from a June 12, 2015 final judgment entered following a bench decision in Providence County Superior Court, which granted the motions for summary judgment filed by the defendants, Laborers' International Union of North America, AFL-CIO, Public Service Employees' Local Union Number 1033 (the Union) and James J. Lombardi, in his capacity as Treasurer for the City of Providence. Mr. Terzian contended on appeal that the hearing justice erred in granting defendants' motions for summary judgment because, in his view, the City of Providence could not suspend and ultimately terminate him for off-duty conduct and because the Union did not comply with its duty to fairly represent him. The Supreme Court held that Mr. Terzian had waived his arguments on appeal because he failed to adequately brief them. Accordingly, the Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the Superior Court.

discipline of state employee unacceptable personal conduct tardiness and absences ALJ review of agency decision just cause for discipline.

Employment at-will Defamation

Unemployment compensation just cause to quit failure to pay as promised. UCRC's decision finding no just cause to quit and disallowing employee's unemployment compensation benefits was against the manifest weight of the evidence. Hearing officer's decision improperly found that employee's failure to quit "immediately" and failure to notify anyone other than his immediate supervisor of workplace issues did not amount to just cause to quit. Furthermore, hearing officer improperly concluded that the employer's failure to address the employee's concerns was reasonable just cause to quit, under unemployment compensation law, focuses on the conduct of the employee, not the employer.

Because some evidence in the record supports the commission finding relator is medically capable of engaging in sustained remunerative employment of a sedentary nature and the relevant nonmedical disability factors do not preclude relator from currently engaging in such employment, the fact that the commission incorrectly relied on relator's non-allowed conditions as a basis for denying PTD in a separate portion of the order does not constitute grounds for the granting of a writ of mandamus. Writ denied.

The plaintiff, a former firefighter with the City of McMinnville Fire Department, brought this retaliatory discharge claim against his previous employer under the Tennessee Public Protection Act. The City filed a motion for summary judgment arguing that the plaintiff was unable to prove that the City's proffered reason for the discharge was pretextual. Finding no genuine dispute, the trial court granted the motion and dismissed the complaint. We affirm.

Arbitration award, collective bargaining agreement, police officer, public policy. The arbitration award modifying a police officer's termination to a substantial suspension, without back pay and benefits, drew its essence from the collective bargaining agreement, was not unlawful, arbitrary, or capricious, and is not against public policy.