Ohio Court of Appeals Disagrees, Confirming That Employees Cannot Succeed on Free Speech Violation Claims Against Private Employers (US)
Rita Hall worked for Kosei St. Marys Corporation (“KSM”) as a line supervisor. In June 2020, Ms. Hall posted an offensive image on her public Facebook page comparing a group of monkeys to a group of African Americans. Several KSM employees complained to KSM management about Ms. Hall’s post. KSM subsequently terminated Ms. Hall solely because of her racially offensive Facebook post. Ms. Hall sued KSM, claiming she had been wrongfully terminated for exercising her free speech rights under the US and Ohio state constitutions.
On June 20, 2023, an Ohio Court of Appeals ruled against Ms. Hall, explaining that Ohio employees cannot succeed on a wrongful termination claim against a private employer where the basis of that claim is the employees’ alleged exercise of free speech rights. But before we get into the court’s decision, some background on wrongful termination law in Ohio will help frame the court’s decision in Hall.
Employment relationships in Ohio are presumed to be “at will,” meaning that in the absence of a written employment contract, either an employee or an employer may terminate the relationship at any time, for any reason or cause or for no reason or cause. Of course, there are exceptions. For example, employers cannot terminate employees for discriminatory (e.g., race, religion, gender, age, disability, etc.) or retaliatory...
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and other speakers made false claims in remarks at the Republican midterm convention’s second night Thursday. Here is a fact check of some...