May Employee Sue for ‘Common Law’ Wrongful Discharge When Statutory Remedy Was Available?
Marlene Leininger v. Pioneer National Latex et al., Case no. 2006-1304 5th District Court of Appeals (Licking County) ISSUE: When an Ohio employee seeks to recover damages from her former employer for wrongful discharge based on alleged age discrimination, must the employee assert her claim under the Ohio Civil Rights Act and comply with the procedural requirements imposed by that statute, or may she pursue a separate “common law” wrongful discharge tort claim that is not subject to the procedural requirements of the Civil Rights Act? BACKGROUND: This case involves a civil lawsuit filed by Marlene Leininger of Ashland County in 2005 against her former employer, Pioneer National Latex, for alleged wrongful termination of her employment based on age discrimination. Leininger, who was 60 years old at the time of her firing, claims that Pioneer discharged her in 2001 on the pretext of a general reduction in its work force but immediately filled her position with a 21-year-old whom it had h
