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Wilson v. Glastic Corporation12/12/2002
DATE OF ANNOUNCEMENT OF DECISION: December 12, 2002
JUDGMENT: AFFIRMED
. Plaintiff-appellant Reginald Wilson appeals the trial court's granting summary judgment in favor of defendant-appellee Glastic Corporation ("Glastic"). Wilson argues that he did not have to exhaust his contractual remedies prior to pursuing a retaliation claim pursuant to R.C. 4123.90. We find no merit to the appeal and affirm.
. A review of the record indicates the following facts.
. The employees of Glastic Corporation are governed by a collective bargaining agreement, which provides the terms and conditions of employment at Glastic Corporation. The collective bargaining agreement contains a standard grievance and arbitration provision, providing that all disputed matters between an employee and management are handled according to a very specific procedure which ultimately culminates in arbitration.
. Wilson was hired by Glastic on September 4, 2000. On October 17, 2000, Wilson suffered an injury to his wrist while performing duties at Glastic. He did not file a workers' compensation claim at this time because other employees had informed him that Glastic fires employees for filing workers' compensation claims. He stopped working in December 2000 because the injury was exacerbated by his work. His physician, Dr. Fumich, placed him on light-duty work and Wilson then filed a workers' compensation claim.
. Approximately a week later, Wilson's wrist had deteriorated further and Dr. Fumich ordered him to take a leave of absence. Glastic, accordingly, granted him a leave of absence until January 14, 2001.
. According to Wilson's affidavit, at this point in time, he noticed a change in attitude towards him by Mr. Azzarello, Glastic's human resource manager. Wilson testified at his deposition that two weeks prior to his scheduled return, Azzarello telephoned him and angrily demanded that he provide him with a doctor's note stating his exact return date. On January 19, Wilson had still not returned to work and had not provided a doctor's note for an extended leave of absence. On this date, Azzarello wrote Wilson a letter demanding the note from Dr. Fumich and also threatened to fire Wilson if he failed to comply with the letter requirement and for being on unapproved leave.
. Wilson obtained permission for extended leave from Dr. Fumich, and Glastic extended his leave to March 5 based on the doctor's certification.
. Prior to his return date, Azzarello ordered that Wilson be examined by Dr. Kaplan to ascertain whether Wilson could perform light-duty work. Dr. Kaplan examined Wilson on February 26 and determined that Wilson could perform light-duty work. At the same time, Wilson's personal physician, Dr. Fumich, determined that Wilson should not return to work and extended Wilson's leave until March 30. In spite of this, on March 13, Azzarello wrote a letter to Wilson informing him that pursuant to Dr. Kaplan's opinion, he was not "totally disabled" and ordered Wilson to return to work as of March 19 to perform light-duty work. According to Wilson, he complied with Azzarello's demand to return early, even though it was against his doctor's advice, because he was afraid he would be fired if he did not return.
. On his first day back, Wilson reinjured his wrist by instinctively attempting to catch a heavy item using his injured wrist. He immediately informed his supervisor and was sent by the company to see Dr. Breitenbach. According to Wilson, although his wrist was swollen, the doctor did not X-ray the wrist and after a cursory examination, allowed Wilson to return to his light-duty work.
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