Ohio is an at-will employment state, which generally means that employers and employees can each terminate an employer/employee relationship without notice or cause. There are some exceptions to this rule, including terminations that violate either a contract between the employer and employee or public policy/legal statutes.

Employees who have a written employment contract or are members of a union with a collective bargaining agreement will typically have extra protections regarding their employment.

Common statutory violations include terminating an employee for any of the following: serving on jury duty; having court-ordered child support withheld from wages; filing for worker’s compensation; or “whistleblowing.” Discharging an employee for becoming pregnant or because of his or her age, race, sex, religion, handicap or national origin is also a violation of federal and state law.

Generally, for a wrongful termination lawsuit to have merit in Ohio, an employee must have been terminated in a manner that violated either a contractual agreement between the employee and employer or a legal statute. For questions regarding a particular employer/employee relationship, please contact our Columbus employment law attorneys.