Kent v. Chester Labs6/29/2001
DECISION.
Judgment Appealed From Is: Reversed and Cause Remanded
The plaintiffs-appellants, Debbie and Robert Kent, appeal from the trial court's order granting summary judgment to the defendant-appellee, Chester Labs, Inc., in an action alleging that Debbie Kent had been fired by the company in retaliation for filing a workers' compensation claim. The Kents alleged that the firing contravened both Ohio public policy and R.C. 4123.90, which specifically prohibits the retaliatory dismissal of an employee who has filed for workers' compensation. In their two assignments of error, the Kents allege that the trial court erred by (1) applying an erroneous legal standard to determine whether there was a prima facie case of retaliatory discharge in violation of R.C. 4123.90, and (2) failing to properly analyze whether the discharge was in violation of Ohio public policy. For the reasons that follow, we reverse and remand.
FACTS
Debbie Kent went to work for Chester Labs in January of 1995 as a production worker. After a few years, she was appointed to line leader due to her job performance. In April of 1997, Kent sustained a back injury while working on the line. Dr. Andrew Roth, an orthopedic specialist, diagnosed the injury as a severe lumbar strain, and Kent was awarded workers' compensation benefits as a result. Kent testified that the injury continued to be symptomatic and required a regimen of stretching and flexibility exercises.
According to Kent, the injury flared up at work on Friday, December 18, 1998, when she noticed pain and tightness emanating from her back. Kent testified that, during the week leading up to that Friday, Chester Labs had been trying to get out a "double batch" of product, and that she and her co-workers had been "pushing it, pushing it" on the line. She further testified that on Saturday morning she had the same symptoms. Later in the day, while helping her husband on his rack route for the Cincinnati Enquirer, Kent lifted a bundle of inserts and felt her back "go out." She testified that she spent the rest of the weekend staying in bed and treating her back with ice. On Monday, December 21, 1998, Kent informed Chester Labs that she would not be at work and then went to see her physician. Dr. Brian Smith, an associate, examined her back and diagnosed severe lumbar strain. The cost of the examination was paid by Kent's insurance and not included in a workers' compensation claim.
Kent took several days off from work, returning on December 28, 1998. She testified that upon her return she did not have any discussion with her two supervisors, Madge Ortwein and Kay Erdman, about filing a workers' compensation claim. She denied recalling any conversation in which she had told a co-worker that she planned to injure herself on the job. She testified that Ortwein had told her to "try and take it easy."
On January 4, 1999, Chester Labs was again trying to get out a "double batch." Kent described her two co-workers on that day as not being particularly productive, since one of the workers, Kimberly Willin, was new and the other, Tracy Napier, spent more time talking. She testified that she saw a case that needed to be lifted off the line and put on a skid, so she lifted it herself. While doing this, she testified, she felt a sharp stabbing pain down her back and dropped the case. Kent then went to Erdman's office, where, she testified, Erdman immediately told her, "I can tell you right now, this is not a Workmen's Comp claim." According to Kent, Erdman "repeated that several times and she told me, do not pursue it that way."
Kent then drove herself home. Later, Kent called the Bureau of Workers' Co
Page 1 2 3 4 5 Ohio Employee Leasing Services
Employee Leasing Services
|