Civil Rights & Constitutional Law
BREAKING: Ohio Court of Appeals reinstates whistleblower Georgeanna...
May 01, 2025
• Practice Areas • Practices • Ohio Whistleblower Protection Act
Ohio’s Whistleblower Protection Act—Revised Code Section 4113.52—is supposedly designed to protect employees from retaliation for reporting their employers’ (or fellow employees’) misconduct.
But it's a very narrow statute providing only limited protection in exceedingly rare instances. So it's hard to qualify for the protections.
The law simply makes no sense. It's as if Ohio legislators wanted to claim that they support whistleblowers while not really doing so and imposing way too many hoops.
An employee is eligible for protection (against termination, demotion, transfer, and certain other listed disciplinary actions) if the employee becomes aware of a violation of
To be protected under the statute, the employee must
After receiving the oral report, written report, or both, the employer is required, within 24 hours, both
If the employer doesn't do both these things, the employee may file a detailed written report with one or more of the following:
The Ohio whistleblower statute prohibits an employer from disciplining, or retaliating against, an employee for reporting criminal conduct in the manner the statute authorizes, or for taking steps to ensure the accuracy of the information so reported.
It also authorizes a civil action against the employer.
But the employee only has 180 days from the retaliation) for injunctive and monetary relief, including attorney fees and costs, for violations.
That's not much time. That's one of the shortest statutes of limitations for Ohio civil causes of action.
As we said, it's almost as if Ohio legislators didn't want to provide real protection or meaningful remedies to whistleblowers.
If you wait too long to contact a law firm, there may insufficient time to properly investigate and file a complaint.
Still, the employee may be subject to discipline “for reporting information without a reasonable basis to do so …”
It's hard for most Ohio whistleblowers to meet all of the statute's requirements.
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