Ohio High Court Eases Employee Requirement to Notify Employer of Workers’ Comp Retaliatory Discharge Claim

The Ohio Supreme Court has recognized a limited exception to the state’s general rule that a discharged employee must notify his former employer within 90 days of termination of the employee’s intent to file a retaliatory discharge lawsuit under Ohio’s workers’ compensation act (R.C. 4123.90). Resolving a conflict among the state’s appellate courts, it held that courts may delay the running of the 90-day notification period if the employee did not know that he had been discharged “within a reasonable time” after the employment action. Lawrence v. Youngstown, Slip Opinion No. 2012-Ohio-4247 (Sept. 20, 2012). The case now returns to the lower court for further proceedings.