Upcoming Ohio Supreme Court Decisions

On February 18, 2009, the Ohio Supreme Court heard oral arguments on three cases on Ohio's employer intentional tort statute - Ohio Rev. Code §2745.01. That statute sets out the requirements that an employee must meet to bring an intentional tort claim against his or her employer. The parties sought clarification of some of the terms in that statute and a determination of whether the statute complies with the Ohio Constitution.

Klaus v. United Equity, Inc., Case No. 2008-0894. Issues: 1) Whether the "deliberate intent" requirement in an intentional tort claim against the employer requires the employee to establish that the employer was consciously aware of the consequences of an egregious risk of injury that fell outside the risks to which the employee is ordinarily exposed. See Ohio Rev. Code §2745.01(B). 2) Whether the employee must demonstrate that harm is substantially to result from the employer's conduct AND that the employer was aware that harm was substantially certain to occur.

Kaminski v. Metal & Wire Products Company, Case No. 2008-0857. Issue: Whether Ohio Rev. Code §2745.01 complies with Article II, Section 34 of the Ohio Constitution regarding passing laws that provide for the welfare of employees and with Art. II, Section 35 regarding passing laws for workers' compensation.

Stetter v. R.J. Corman Derailment Services, LLC, Case No. 2008-0972. Issue: whether Ohio Rev. Code §2745.01 complies with: 1) Article I, Section 5 of the Ohio Constitution regarding a citizen's right to a jury trial in civil cases; 2) Art. I Section 1 regarding a citizen's right to a remedy by law; 3) Article I, Section 16 regarding a citizen's right to due process including access to open courts to remedy injuries; 4) Art. II, Section 2 regarding equal protection and application of laws; 5) Art. II, Section 32 regarding limits on legislative powers; and 6) Art. II, Sections 34 and 35 regarding laws that provide for the welfare of employees and laws for workers' compensation; and whether Section 2745.01eliminates a common law cause of action for employer intentional tort, replacing it with a statutory cause of action.