Wallace v. Mantych Metalworking

937 N.E.2d 177, 189 Ohio App. 3d 25
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedAugust 13, 2010
DocketNo. 23704
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 937 N.E.2d 177 (Wallace v. Mantych Metalworking) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wallace v. Mantych Metalworking, 937 N.E.2d 177, 189 Ohio App. 3d 25 (Ohio Ct. App. 2010).

Opinions

Brogan, Judge.

{¶ 1} Dan Wallace has appealed the trial court’s entry of summary judgment in favor of Mantych Metalworking on his claims of disability discrimination, disability harassment, retaliation, and wrongful discharge in violation of public policy. We conclude that based on the evidence presented, no fair-minded jury could return a verdict for Wallace on any of these claims, so summary judgment in favor of Mantych is proper. We therefore affirm the trial court’s judgment.

[29]*29I

2} In May 1998, Mantych Metalworking hired Dan Wallace, then 48 years old, to work as a model maker in its Kettering facility. (Mantych also has a facility in Xenia.) "When Wallace was hired, Michael Mantych was president of the company. Michael died in December of the following year, 1999, and Colleen Mantych, his daughter, succeeded him. For full-time employees, Mantych has a standard 48-hour workweek. At the time of his hire, Wallace was undergoing rehabilitation from recent back surgery, so he could not work Mantych’s standard workweek of 48 hours. Indeed, a few months after he was hired, in August, Mantych received from one of Wallace’s doctors a note saying that Wallace “should continue to be limited [to] 45 hours per week for health reasons.” Two years after he was hired, in April 2000, Wallace had a heart attack and consequently underwent bypass surgery.

{¶ 3} April is bonus month for Mantych employees, but in April 2000 Mantych could not afford to give bonuses or raises to anyone. According to a statement of earnings, which Colleen posted for all to see, medical-insurance costs, heightened by Wallace’s and other workers’ health problems, were a key reason that money was tight. In August 2000, Colleen called Wallace a “retarded idiot” when she learned that, despite having had a heart attack and surgery a few months ago, Wallace was still smoking. The following March, Mantych received from one of Wallace’s doctors another note. This one limited Wallace to working only 30 to 35 hours each week.

{¶ 4} Sometime in 2001, Mantych discharged 60-year-old Dale Frederick because he was unable to work every day, owing to his physical limitations. Wallace heard that Frederick was fired because he was old. In 2002, Wallace learned that Colleen was not meeting with older workers, Wallace included, about raises because she believed that the company’s future was not with them. Wallace also heard Colleen say that old employees were costing Mantych too much money and were not worth the investment because they cannot keep up, get sick, are slower, and cannot work all the hours. Wallace believed that Colleen treated him and older workers unfairly by refusing to evaluate them and by refusing to give them bonuses or raises. In December 2002, Mantych received from one of Wallace’s doctors another note. This one limited Wallace, because of his medical condition, to a 40-hour workweek until further notice.

{¶ 5} From 2003 until late 2004, Mantych sent Wallace to work at its Xenia facility, troubleshooting production problems. There, Wallace came up with a work schedule that allowed him to do his weekly work in 36 hours. But his supervisor objected to the schedule, indicating that Colleen was not favorably disposed to schedule changes.

[30]*30{¶ 6} The final year of Wallace’s employment was 2005. During that year, Mantych received several more notes from Wallace’s doctors. In April, a doctor restricted Wallace to 15 to 30 hours per week because, the note said, multiple medical conditions were made worse by long, strenuous hours. The next month a doctor signed a “return to work” note saying that Wallace was able to return to work on May 18, after being off on May 16 and 17. The next month, a doctor signed another return-to-work note. This one said that Wallace was able to return to work on June 15, after being off on June 10, 13, and 14. And in July, a doctor continued Wallace’s 15-to-30-hour workweek limitation.

{¶ 7} During his final year with Mantych, Wallace worked on average only 25.85 hours each week. While a sizeable majority of full-time employees did not work the standard 48-hour week, Wallace had one of the lowest averages. Throughout the year, because of his medical conditions, Mantych did not know if Wallace would be able to work the next day. (Wallace called Mantych on the mornings he did not feel up to it.) To keep production rolling, Mantych needed someone it could count on each day to work the hours that Wallace’s medical condition no longer allowed him to work. So, on January 6, 2006, Colleen called Wallace into her office and, expressing her concern about slow production, let him go.

{¶ 8} Following his discharge, Wallace filed several claims. He first filed a claim with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) for age discrimination. In February 2006, the EEOC dismissed the claim. Then, in June 2006, Wallace filed a complaint in the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas, claiming age discrimination and age harassment. The trial court dismissed the complaint for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. Two years later, in May 2008, Wallace filed a second complaint, the genesis of this case, that contained claims for retaliation, disability discrimination, disability harassment, and wrongful discharge in violation of public policy. In July 2009, Mantych moved for summary judgment on all claims, and, on October 7, 2009, the trial court sustained the motion. Wallace timely appealed.

II

{¶ 9} According to the standard, summary judgment should be rendered if the evidence and stipulations “show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Civ.R. 56(C). But summary judgment should not be rendered “unless it appears from the evidence or stipulation * * * that reasonable minds can come to but one conclusion and that conclusion is adverse to the party against whom the motion for summary judgment is made, that party being entitled to have the evidence or stipulation construed most strongly in the party’s favor.” Civ.R. 56(C). A court [31]*31must in essence determine whether based on the evidence presented, so construed, a fair-minded jury could return a verdict for the plaintiff. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc. (1986), 477 U.S. 242, 252, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202. Whether summary judgment should be entered is a question of law, which is reviewed de novo. Here, we must determine whether based on the evidence presented, construed most strongly in favor of Wallace, a jury could return a verdict for Wallace on any of his claims against Mantych. Before doing so, however, we must address two preliminary issues concerning the evidence.

{¶ 10} The first issue concerns the evidence we will consider. We have said that “[i]n an appeal on questions of law the reviewing court may consider only that which was considered by the trial court and nothing more.” State v. Smith (June 18, 1999), Montgomery App. No. 17350, 1999 WL 961235; see also State v. Peagler (1996), 76 Ohio St.3d 496, 668 N.E.2d 489, paragraph one of the syllabus (“While an appellate court may decide an issue on grounds different from those determined by the trial court, the evidentiary basis upon which the court of appeals decides a legal issue must have been adduced before the trial court and have been made a part of the record thereof’).

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Bluebook (online)
937 N.E.2d 177, 189 Ohio App. 3d 25, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wallace-v-mantych-metalworking-ohioctapp-2010.