Total Articles: 5
Punitive Damages Cap Applies to Statutory Employment Cases, All the Luri(d) Details
In April 2005, Ohio enacted tort reform through Senate Bill 80, which substantially changed the landscape of personal injury law in Ohio as it provided a number of new provisions in an attempt to establish reasonable guidelines for awards of punitive damages. One of these changes was the imposition of statutory damages caps and with these changes came many questions, including whether employment cases would be defined as “torts” and be included in the reform provisions. Ohio employers have been particularly anxious as to the answer because it had the potential to dramatically impact verdicts in the state.
Ohio Governor Signs Bill Reducing the Collective Bargaining Rights of Ohio Public Employees
On March 31, 2011, Ohio Governor John Kasich signed Senate Bill 5 into law. The new law significantly reduces the collective bargaining rights of nearly half a million public employees throughout Ohio, including teachers, firefighters and police officers. Below are a few key points of interest.
Ohio eAuthority (June 2010).
Lenght of service leave requirements.
Ohio Healthy Families Act Will Not Appear On November Ballot.
Ohioans will not vote in November on whether certain Ohio employers must provide seven sick days annually to their employees. The Ohio Healthy Family Campaign, the coalition of more than 220 organizations including the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) that had backed the Ohio Healthy Families Act, will ask Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner to remove the proposed legislation from the Ohio November 4th ballot. Proponents of the Ohio Healthy Families Act acquired enough signatures last month to get the proposed legislation on the November ballot.
Ohio Civil Rights Commission Says Maternity Leave Must Be Twelve Weeks.
The Ohio Civil Rights Commission recently announced dramatic amendments to the states pregnancy discrimination regulations. (Ohio Adm. Code 4112-5-05). Until now, employers only had to allow a reasonable period of time for pregnancy leave. Reasonable period of time has been interpreted in many different ways and the period of leave granted varied from employer to employer. Under the new amendments, a minimum of twelve weeks of unpaid leave must be provided for pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions. In addition, at the end of the leave the employee must be reinstated to her original position or to a position of like status and pay, without loss of service credits or other benefits.
