Investigation failures cost this university dearly – here's what HR teams need to know
A lecturer fired for sexual misconduct was reinstated. The reason: the university's investigation denied him the chance to defend himself.
The decision, handed down on February 24, 2026, by the Ohio Sixth District Court of Appeals, puts employers on notice that terminating an employee over a workplace misconduct complaint is not enough. How the investigation is conducted matters just as much – and in a union environment, it can be the difference between a termination that sticks and one that does not.
The case involved Erik Tyger, a lecturer at the University of Toledo's School of Communications, who was fired in July 2019 after a Title IX investigation found he had engaged in unwelcome sexual conduct toward a female student in May 2018. The University charged him with two violations of its sexual misconduct policy and one violation of its Standards of Conduct policy, and moved straight to termination.
Tyger, represented by the American Association of University Professors Toledo Chapter, challenged the firing through the grievance process outlined in his collective bargaining agreement. An arbitrator reviewed the case and, in November 2023, sided with Tyger – not because he was innocent, but because the University cut too many corners getting to its conclusion.
The arbitrator found that the University never gave Tyger a real opportunity to respond to the allegations against him....
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