Safe Workplaces

Ohio courts had previously decided that public policy favored workplace safety. The July issue of Ohio Employment Law Letter, however, carries an article describing a 2nd. District Court of Appeals case that “recently clarifies this, stating that public policy doesn’t require employers to guarantee a safe workplace, but rather need only to provide a reasonable & adequate degree of workplace safety.”

This case started out as a physical dispute between an employee and his supervisor, but according to the Law Letter article it is significant, first of all, because “ Ohio courts with increasing frequency are making broad general pronouncements of undefined public policies that employers have to be careful not to violate when firing or disciplining an employee.” Secondly, the case demonstrates “how the reasonable & documented efforts of an employer may pay big dividends in litigation matters.”
(See Garrett v. Dayton Power & Light Co., 2005 Ohio 1362)