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Major Change in the Law
Regarding Maximum Leave Policies and Employees on Workers’ Compensation
Receiving TTD
October 2003
On October 22, 2003, the Ohio Supreme Court in an
unanimous decision, ruled in Coolidge vs. Riverdale Local School District,
100 Ohio St. 3d. 141, that an employee receiving temporary total disability (TTD)
compensation under Ohio’s workers’ compensation statute may not be
discharged solely on the basis of absenteeism or inability to work, when the
absence or inability to work is directly related to an allowed condition. Thus,
employees out on a workers’ compensation leave receiving TTD compensation cannot
be discharged for exceeding the company’s maximum leave time. This is a change
from previous court rulings which allowed an employer to discharge an employee
whose workers’ compensation leave exceeded the maximum leave period under the
company’s neutral maximum leave policy. The new rule applies to maximum leave
of absence policies governing both union and non-union employees.
The Ohio Supreme Court ruled that to discharge an
employee while that employee is receiving TTD compensation is a violation of the
public policy grounded in the anti-retaliation provision of Ohio’s workers’
compensation statute, R.C. §4123.90. The Court found no difference between
discharging an employee for filing a workers’ compensation claim (an obvious
violation of the anti-retaliation provision) and discharging an employee “for
the very absenteeism and inability to work” that establishes the employee’s
eligibility to receive such compensation.
Please also note that although the Ohio Supreme Court’s
ruling did not specifically address whether an employee who is no longer
receiving TTD compensation, may be discharged pursuant to a company’s
maximum leave policy, the Court implied that the crucial issue was whether the
employee was receiving TTD compensation. This and other related workers’
compensation maximum leave issues remain open questions and should be answered
by future court decisions.
In light of the Ohio Supreme Court’s ruling in
Coolidge, employers are strongly encouraged to closely manage and monitor
all claims involving TTD compensation.
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