*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 Zashin & Rich at 216.696.4441.
