Sutton v. Tomco Machining, Inc.
Annotate this CaseAppellee Sutton injured his back while on the job at Tomco. Sutton reported the injury to Tomco's president, after which Sutton was fired. Sutton filed suit against Tomco asserting a statutory claim for unlawful retaliation under Ohio Rev. Code 4123.90 and a tort claim for wrongful discharge in violation of public policy. The trial court granted Tomco's motion for judgment on the pleadings, and Sutton appealed. The court of appeals affirmed the judgment against Sutton on the statutory claim and reversed the judgment against Sutton on the public-policy claim, holding that the discharge violated public policy as expressed in Ohio Rev. Code 4123.90. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the statute expresses a clear public policy prohibiting retaliatory employment action against injured employees; (2) Ohio recognizes a common-law tort claim for wrongful discharge in violation of public policy when employees are retaliated against after they are injured on the job but before they file, institute, or pursue a workers' compensation claim; and (3) the remedies available for wrongful discharge in violation of the public policy against retaliatory employment actions are limited to those listed in the statute.
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