Summary
holding that "an individual employee, not otherwise deemed to be an 'employer' under the statute, may be individually liable for alleged violations of the employment discrimination provisions of the Ohio Civil Rights Act, Ohio Rev. Code §§ 4112.01, 4112.02 & 4112.99"
Summary of this case from Parson v. HomerOpinion
No. 97-1962
Submitted February 10, 1999
Decided March 10, 1999.
ON ORDER from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, Western Division, Certifying Question of State Law, No. 3:96CV7771.
Reese M. Wineman, for respondent.
Ziegler, Metzger Miller L.L.P., Stephen M. Bales and John E. Redeker, for petitioners.
Pursuant to S.Ct.Prac.R. XVIII, the United States District Court certified the question of "Whether an individual employee, not otherwise deemed to be an `employer' under the statute, may be individually liable for alleged violations of the employment discrimination provisions of the Ohio Civil Rights Act, Ohio Rev. Code §§ 4112.01 (A)(2), 4112.02 (A) 4112.99?"
Our response is in the affirmative. See Genaro v. Cent. Transport, Inc. (1999), 84 Ohio St.3d 293, 703 N.E.2d 782.
MOYER C.J., DOUGLAS RESNICK, F.E. SWEENEY PFEIFER and COOK, JJ., concur.
LUNDBERG STRATTON J., dissents.
I disagree with the majority for the reasons set out in the dissenting opinions in Genaro v. Cent. Transport, Inc. (1999), 84 Ohio St.3d 293, 703 N.E.2d 782. I would hold that the General Assembly intended R.C. Chapter 4112 to impose liability only on employers, not on an employer's managers or supervisors. Therefore, I respectfully dissent.