Ohio

Ohio's 5th Circuit Issues Opinion on Reasonable Maternity Leave

By Cleveland Law Library

In an interesting decision, the 5th District Court of Appeals held in Nursing Care Mgmt. of Am. Inc. v. Ohio Civil Rights Comm. (Case No. 08CA0030) that, notwithstanding an employee's length of service or an employer policy that provides otherwise, employers are required to provide a reasonable length of time for unpaid maternity leave. This decision reversed the trial court's decision and affirmed the Ohio Civil Rights Commission's decision in favor of a woman who was discharged when she needed pregnancy leave but had not worked long enough to qualify under her employer's policy. The Court concluded that her termination constituted "unlawful sex discrimination" in  violation of OAC 4112-05-05(G)(2). The Court also relied on the Pregnancy Discrimination Act in 42 U.S.C. sec. 2000 et seq., as well as Ohio's PDA contained in ORC 4112.02.

Full post as published by Cleveland Law Library Weblog on April 22, 2009 (boomark / email).