Ohio Supreme Court Reinforces Importance of Signed Acknowledgement of Employee Handbooks for Terminated, Injured Employees Seeking Temporary Total Disability
*By Steve Dlott

The Ohio Supreme Court recently reiterated its long-standing precedent that absent an employee’s signed acknowledgement of an employment manual, injured employees terminated for violating company policy are entitled to temporary total disability. In State ex. rel. Saunders v. Cornerstone, 2009-Ohio-4083 (Ohio Aug. 19, 2009), an employee injured his knee at work and returned to work two days later. One month later, the company fired the employee for insubordination. Following his termination, the employee underwent knee surgery and requested temporary total disability (“TTD”) for his lost wages. The employer challenged his request relying on a policy in the employment manual permitting discharge for insubordination. The Industrial Commission (“IC”) denied the injured employee’s request for TTD, finding that the employee voluntarily abandoned his employment based on his violation of the insubordination policy.

The IC’s decision ultimately was appealed to the Ohio Supreme Court, where it was reversed. The Court noted that although the injured employee signed a written acknowledgement of his receipt of the original employment manual, the employer subsequently revised its employment policy to include insubordination as a terminable offense. The employee denied receiving a copy of the employer’s revised insubordination policy, and the employer did not have any proof of a signed acknowledgement by the terminated employee that he received the revision to the employment manual indicating insubordination was a terminable offense. Accordingly, the Supreme Court held the employee was entitled to TTD.

The Ohio Supreme Court’s decision to grant the terminated employee TTD emphasizes two essential points regarding termination of injured employees for policy violations: (1) all such policies should be in writing; and (2) employers should maintain written acknowledgment from their employees that they received the policies. For workers’ compensation purposes, having one without the other is meaningless. The Saunders decision reaffirms these important and ironclad principles.

*Steve Dlott, an OSBA Certified Specialist in Workers’ Compensation, defends employers in all aspects of workers’ compensation law. For more information about how this decision may affect your practice or any other workers’ compensation issue, please contact Steve (spd@zrlaw.com) at 216.696.4441.

This newsletter is not intended as a substitute for professional legal advice and its receipt does not constitute an attorney-client relationship. If you have any questions concerning any of these articles or any other employment law issues, please contact Stephen S. Zashin at 216.696.4441.
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