Opinion ID: 2691128
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Fairly Applied Policy

Text: {¶ 28} The court of appeals determined that Williams’s termination was without just cause because the requirement to obtain a LISW license was not fairly applied to all the program managers. The appellate court relied on Shaffer v. Am. Sickle Cell Anemia Assn. (June 12, 1986), Cuyahoga App. No. 50127, 1986 WL 6711, for the proposition that “termination pursuant to company policy will constitute just cause only if the policy is fair, and fairly applied. Harp v. Administrator, Bureau of Unemployment Compensation (1967), 12 Ohio Misc. 34 [41 O.O.2d 25, 230 N.E.2d 376]. This court’s review of the fairness of a company policy is necessarily limited to a determination of whether the employee received notice of the policy; whether the policy could be understood by the average person; and whether there was a rational basis for the policy. The issue of whether the policy was fairly applied relates to whether the policy was applied to some individuals but not others.” Id. at . {¶ 29} We have never adopted such a standard, nor is it necessary to do so in this case. Williams accepted the promotion to program manager knowing that she was required to obtain the LISW certification within 15 months. The requirement was stated as an express condition of the promotion; it was not stated as a company policy. Furthermore, she was not similarly situated to the other two program managers, who had significantly more experience than Williams and were hired several years before she was. {¶ 30} Although the appellate court noted that there is no governmental requirement that program managers be LISWs and that Williams’s supervisor did 8 January Term, 2011 not know whether any other employee had been hired as a program manager on the condition of obtaining a license, as Williams had been, there also was no evidence that any other program manager had been hired in the same time period. There was, however, evidence that the two most recent employees who received promotions—Williams and her supervisor—were both required by Bridgeway to obtain LISW certification. Unfortunately, Williams was unsuccessful in her attempt. {¶ 31} As the review commission noted, a company is entitled to increase the educational requirements for employment opportunities. Nothing in the record shows that the requirement — to obtain LISW certification within 15 months — was an unreasonable expectation or that other individuals were contemporaneously hired as program managers and were not required to obtain LISW certification. Thus, even if we were to adopt a requirement that any company policy must be fair and fairly applied before a termination for failure to follow that policy is deemed a just-cause determination, there is competent, credible evidence upholding the review commission’s decision that Williams’s termination was for just cause.