Absolutely!
Ohio is an employment at-will state. This means that an employee can be terminated at any time without any reason, explanation, or warning. This also means that, under many circumstances, an employee can be terminated for complaining to Human Resources (“HR”).
Wait, what? Isn’t that retaliation?
Unlawful Retaliation only occurs when an employer punishes an employee for engaging in legally protected activity. Not all complaints to HR are legally protected. Legally protected activity includes (but is not limited to): complaints to HR alleging unlawful discrimination (discrimination based on race, gender, age, national origin, disability, religion, or military status) against you or other workers, complaints that you are being unlawfully denied minimum wage or overtime, requesting a reasonable accommodation based on a disability, requesting medical leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”), or filing for workers’ compensation. Some real-life examples:
Protected activity:
1. Filing an EEOC charge.[1]
2. A demand that a supervisor cease his/her harassing conduct.[2]
3. Internal complaints of sexual harassment.[3]
4. Filing a lawsuit alleging minimum wage or overtime violations.[4]
Not protected activity:
1. A complaint or a disagreement regarding management decisions.[5]
2. A complaint that management is out to get you.[6]
3. Filing a union grievance that does not raise discrimination issues.[7]
4. Requesting salary information.[8]
5. A complaint about a supervisor’s snickering recounting of another’s off-color joke.[9]
The role of HR is to protect the company, not employees. However, once an employee engages in legally protected activity, then the interests of the company and employee become aligned. This is because it is in the company’s best interest to stop any unlawful employment practices, otherwise it may be exposed to a potential lawsuit.
As you can see, only
certain complaints to HR constitute legally protected activity. Therefore, you may
want to consider contacting an attorney prior to complaining to HR.
[1] Gay Chandler v. Cleveland Metropolitan School District, et al., N.D.Ohio No. 1:18-CV-02055, 2019 WL 4394135.
[2] E.E.O.C. v. New Breed Logistics, 783 F.3d 1057, 1067 (6th Cir.2015).
[3] Hughes v. Miller, 8th Dist. No. 91482, 181 Ohio App.3d 440, 2009-Ohio-963, 909 N.E.2d 642.
[4] Wilson v. Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc., 2019 WL 4417771 (Sept. 16, 2019).
[5] Booker v. Brown & Williamson Tobacco Co., Inc., 879 F.2d 1304 (6th Cir.1989).
[6] Fox v. Eagle Distributing Co., 510 F.3d 587 (6th Cir.2007)
[7] Motley v. Ohio Civ. Rights Comm., 10th Dist. Franklin No. 07AP-923, 2008-Ohio-2306.
[8] Alexander v. Ohio State Univ. College of Social Work, 697 F.Supp.2d 831 (S.D.Ohio 2010), aff’d, 429 Fed.Appx. 481 (6th Cir.2011).
[9] Clark County Sch. Dist. v. Breeden, 532 U.S. 268, 121 S.Ct. 1508, 149 L.Ed.2d 509 (2001).