Some Evidence Of Knowledge Required To Survive Summary Judgment In Workers’ Comp Retaliation Claim (Ohio)

The Court of Appeals of Ohio, Eighth Appellate District, upheld a trial court’s dismissal of a workers’ compensation retaliation claim, finding that the plaintiff failed to present any evidence to support an inference that he was discharged for filing a workers’ compensation case.  The plaintiff, a maintenance technician, filed a workers’ compensation claim after being injured when he failed to follow a company safety procedure while attempting to repair a machine.  He was terminated approximately two months later.

In reviewing the trial court’s opinion, the appellate court explained that there was no evidence that the employees who decided to terminate the worker knew of the workers’ compensation claim at the time of the worker’s termination.  Further, in the worker’s deposition testimony, he admitted that he did not tell anyone other than the company’s third-party workers’ compensation administrator about the claim.  The appellate court concluded that while direct evidence of knowledge is not necessary to survive summary judgment, a plaintiff must show more than just the fact that he was terminated sometime after filing a claim in order for the court to infer that termination was retaliatory.  In this case, the plaintiff could not meet that burden.