Legal Question in Employment Law in Ohio

Re: Fired for unjust cause

Unless you have an employment contract or are a party to a collective bargaining agreement, there is likely little that you can do in getting your job back. Ohio is at at-will state, meaning that an employer can terminate an employee for any legal reason or, for no reason at all. In other words, the employer does not need cause to terminate an at-will employee.

Unemployment compensation, however, is another matter. To be denied for unemployment compensation, your termination must have been for just cause (�just cause� meaning some fault on the part of the employee). Unless your time to appeal the ODJFS� determination has expired, you should appeal the decision and state exactly what occurred. The appeal procedures should be explained on the determination notice you received from the ODJFS. If appealed, the matter will likely be set for a hearing at which time, you will have an opportunity to testify about what occurred as well as question the employer under oath. The time for appeal is very short, however, and therefore, you should not delay.