Wiles v. Medina Auto Parts

• Decision Date: 28 August 2002
• Docket Number: No. 2001-1303.,2001-1303.
• Citation: 773 N.E.2d 526,2002 Ohio 3994,96 Ohio St.3d 240
• Parties: WILES, Appellant, v. MEDINA AUTO PARTS, Appellee.
• Court: Ohio Supreme Court

773 N.E.2d 526

96 Ohio St.3d 240

2002 Ohio 3994

WILES, Appellant, v. MEDINA AUTO PARTS, Appellee.

No. 2001-1303.

Supreme Court of Ohio.

Submitted March 27, 2002.

Decided August 28, 2002.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Michael Terrence Conway, for appellant.

Andrew S. Mcllvaine and Thomas E. Palecek, Wadsworth, for appellee.

Gittes & Schulte and Frederick M. Gittes; Louis A. Jacobs; Law Offices of John S. Marshall and Joshua J. Morrow, Columbus, urging reversal for amici curiae Ohio Employment Lawyers Association, Ohio Academy of Trial Lawyers, Ohio NOW Education & Legal Fund, and 9 to 5, National Association of Working Women.

COOK, J.

{¶ 1} The federal Family and Medical Leave Act ("FMLA" or "Act"), Section 2601 et seq., Title 29, U.S.Code, guarantees up to twelve weeks of unpaid leave during a one-year period for a qualifying employee needing time off to care for a relative.¹ In addition to providing substantive rights, the FMLA provides specific remedies for employees who have been aggrieved by their employer's violation of the Act. This case asks us to recognize, as a matter of Ohio common law, a cause of action for wrongful discharge in violation of public policy based solely on an employer's violation of the FMLA. Because allowing such a claim is unnecessary to vindicate the policy goals of the FMLA, we decline to do so.

I

{¶ 2} According to his complaint, the appellant, Herb Wiles, began working for Medina Auto Parts in 1993. In April 1999, Wiles requested and received permission to take a two-week leave of absence to care for his father, who had been injured in an automobile accident. At the time he requested the leave of absence, Wiles earned $21.20 per hour as a store manager. When Wiles returned to work after the leave of absence, however, Medina Auto Parts lowered his pay rate to $11 per hour and demoted him from manager to counter person. Medina Auto Parts also transferred Wiles to a different store.

{¶ 3} In January 2000, Wiles filed a complaint in the Medina County Court of Common Pleas alleging that Medina Auto Parts had constructively discharged him in retaliation for exercising his rights under the FMLA. Despite citing the FMLA in his complaint, Wiles did not seek recovery under the Act's remedial provisions. Rather, Wiles asserted a state common-law cause of action, alleging that the actions of Medina Auto Parts constituted a wrongful discharge in violation of public policy. See, generally, Greeley v. Miami Valley Maintenance Contrs., Inc. (1990), 49 Ohio St.3d 228, 551 N.E.2d 981.

{¶ 4} Medina Auto Parts moved for summary judgment on the basis that Ohio does not recognize a cause of action for wrongful discharge that is based solely on the public policy expressed in the FMLA. The trial court granted the motion and the court of appeals affirmed. The cause is now before this court on the allowance of a discretionary appeal.

II

{¶ 5} The common-law doctrine of employment at will generally governs employment relationships in Ohio. Under this doctrine, a general or indefinite hiring is terminable at the will of either the employee or the employer; thus, a discharge without cause does not give rise to an action for damages. Collins v. Rizkana (1995), 73 Ohio St.3d 65, 67, 652 N.E.2d 653; see, also, Mers v. Dispatch Printing Co. (1985), 19 Ohio St.3d 100, 19 OBR 261, 483 N.E.2d 150, paragraph one of the syllabus. In response to perceived abuses of the at-will principle, a number' of states created an exception that permitted a discharged employee to assert a tort cause of action for wrongful discharge in violation of a fundamental public policy. See Tameny v. Atlantic Richfield Co. (1980), 27 Cal.3d 167, 172, 164 Cal.Rptr. 839, 610 P.2d 1330; Phung v. Waste Mgt., Inc. (1986), 23 Ohio St.3d 100, 104, 23 OBR 260, 491 N.E.2d 1114 (Clifford F. Brown, J., dissenting) (collecting cases). After first declining to do so in Phung, this court followed the national trend in Greeley, supra, and recognized a cause of action in tort for wrongful discharge in violation of public policy. Specifically, we held that "[p]ublic policy warrants an exception to the employment-at-will doctrine when an employee is discharged or disciplined for a reason which is prohibited by statute." Greeley at paragraph one of the syllabus. Thus, after Greeley, an employee terminated in violation of a statute could maintain a common-law action for damages.

{¶ 6} In the years following Greeley, this court expanded and otherwise refined the scope of the wrongful-discharge tort. We have held that a valid Greeley claim is not limited to situations where the discharge violates a statute. Instead, the "clear public policy" sufficient to justify a wrongful-discharge claim "may also be discerned as a matter of law based on other sources, such as the Constitutions of Ohio and the United States, administrative rules and regulations, and the common law." Painter v. Graley (1994), 70 Ohio St.3d 377, 639 N.E.2d 51, paragraph three of the syllabus (overruling Tulloh v. Goodyear Atomic Corp. [1992], 62 Ohio St.3d 541, 584 N.E.2d 729). In addition to expanding the potential sources of the "clear public policy" for purposes of a Greeley claim, Painter also suggested defining the tort by using the four elements described by then Villanova Law School professor (now Dean and Professor of Law at Chicago-Kent College of Law) Henry H. Perritt, Jr.:

{¶ 7} "1.. That clear public policy existed and was manifested in a state or federal constitution, statute or administrative regulation, or in the common law (the clarity element).

{¶ 8} "2. That dismissing employees under circumstances like those involved in the plaintiffs dismissal would jeopardize the public policy (the jeopardy element).

{¶ 9} "`3. The plaintiffs dismissal was motivated by conduct related to the public policy (the causation element).

{¶ 10} "`4. The employer lacked overriding legitimate business justification for the dismissal (the overriding justification element).' (Emphasis sic.)" Painter, 70 Ohio St.3d at 384, 639 N.E.2d 51, fn. 8, quoting H. Perritt, The Future of Wrongful Dismissal Claims: Where Does Employer Self Interest Lie? (1989), 58 U.Cin.L.Rev. 397, 398-399. See, also, 2 Perritt, Employee Dismissal Law and Practice (4th Ed.1998) 3-4, Section 7.1.

{¶ 11} Less than one year after deciding Painter, this court formally adopted Professor Perritt's framework as the four elements of an Ohio common-law claim for wrongful discharge in violation of public policy. Collins, 73 Ohio St.3d at 69-70, 652 N.E.2d 653. We further established that the clarity and jeopardy elements were questions of law to be decided by the court while factual issues relating to the causation and overriding justification elements were generally for the trier of fact to resolve. Id. at 70, 652 N.E.2d 653; 2 Perritt at 18, Section 7.9.

{¶ 12} In this case, Wiles bases his Greeley claim solely on the public policy expressed in the FMLA. The court of appeals upheld the trial court's grant of summary judgment for Medina Auto Parts on the basis that Ohio recognizes no such claim. Although it found the clarity element of a wrongful-discharge tort satisfied based on the FMLA's substantive provisions, the court of appeals found that the jeopardy element was lacking. We review the court of appeals' resolution of these purely legal issues using a de novo standard of review. See Cleveland Elec. Ilium. Co. v. Pub. Util. Comm. (1996), 76 Ohio St.3d 521, 523, 668 N.E.2d 889; see, also, Doe v. Shaffer (2000), 90 Ohio St.3d 388, 390, 738 N.E.2d 1243 ("We review the grant of summary judgment de novo").

{¶ 13} Based on the analytic framework adopted in Collins, our first task is to ascertain whether the conduct Wiles alleges to have occurred violated a "clear public policy" of this state. Collins, 73 Ohio St.3d at 70, 652 N.E.2d 653. We agree with the court of appeals that the FMLA manifests a sufficiently clear public policy to satisfy the clarity element of a wrongful-discharge tort claim. Indeed, Congress expressly stated an intent "to balance the demands of the workplace with the needs of families, to promote the stability and economic security of families, and to promote national interests in preserving family integrity" and "to entitle employees to take reasonable leave * * * for the care of a child, spouse, or parent who has a serious health condition." Section 2601(b). See, also, Stekloff v. St. John's Mercy Health Sys. (C.A.8, 2000), 218 F.3d 858, 861 (observing that "a desire to promote job security and stability in workplace relationships was central to Congress's decision to pass the FMLA"). In furtherance of these legislative objectives, "[t]he FMLA's central provision guarantees eligible employees 12 weeks of leave in a 1-year period following certain events: a disabling health problem; a family member's serious illness; or the arrival of a new son or daughter." (Emphasis added.) Ragsdale v. Wolverine World Wide, Inc. (2002),____ U.S.____, ____, 122 S.Ct. 1155, 1160, 152 L.Ed.2d 167, 175, citing Section 2612(a)(1). The Act reinforces this "central provision" by requiring a covered employer to maintain the employee's group health coverage during the leave, Section 2614(c)(1), and to reinstate the employee to his or her former position or an equivalent when the employee returns from leave, Section 2614(a)(1). Moreover, the Act specifically prohibits a covered employer from interfering with, restraining, or denying the exercise of FMLA rights by an employee. Section 2615(a)(1). Thus, the FMLA prohibits what Wiles alleges Medina Auto Parts to have done here — discharging him for exercising his right to FMLA leave. See Chaffin v. John H. Carter Co., Inc. (C.A.5, 1999), 179 F.3d 316, 319; see, also, Section 825.220(c), Title 29, C.F.R. (explaining that the FMLA prohibits an employer from discriminating against employees who have used FMLA leave). In light of the Act's statutory and administrative...