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Description
On December 20, 2007, the of Ohio ruled that an employee who is terminated while receiving workers' compensation benefits cannot bring a common-law cause of action for wrongful discharge in violation of public policy. Bickers v. W. & S. Life Ins. Co., slip. op. no. 2007-Ohio-6751, at [paragraph] 26 (Ohio 2007). Instead, the employee's exclusive remedy is to file a claim under Ohio Rev. Code s. 4123.90. Id. The Bickers decision clarifies and significantly limits the Court's previous holding in Coolidge v. Riverdale Local Sch. Dist., 100 Ohio St. 3d 141, 2003-Ohio-5357, 797 N.E.2d 61 (Ohio 2003), the controversial decision that opened the floodgates for public policy claims by employees discharged while receiving temporary total disability benefits ("TTD"). By barring such claims, Bickers (1) prevents employees from bypassing s. 4123.90's notice and timeliness requirements and (2) limits employees to recovery of only those equitable remedies specifically set forth in the Workers' Compensation Act. Bickers also appears to restore Ohio's pre-Coolidge law providing that discharging an employee pursuant to a neutral absenteeism policy is not per se retaliation.
In Bickers, plaintiff-appellee Shelley Bickers suffered a work-related injury while employed by defendant-appellant Western & Southern Life Insurance Company ("Western & Southern"). Bickers filed a workers' compensation claim that was ultimately allowed for multiple conditions involving her arms. For eight years following her injury, Bickers experienced numerous periods of disability during which work restrictions related to her injury prevented her from performing her usual job duties. During these periods, Western & Southern did not provide Bickers with alternative employment within the restrictions set by her physician and Bickers received TTD. Western & Southern terminated Bickers in 2002 while she... |
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