The Eighth District Court of Appeals, which has jurisdiction over Cuyahoga County, ruled that a discrimination claim alleging violations of the Ohio Civil Rights Act, R.C. Chapter 4112, is a tort action and subject to the damage caps under the Ohio Tort Reform Act.
The Eighth District's ruling applies to claims under the Ohio Civil Rights Act filed by individuals who believe that their employers have discriminated against them because of their race, color, age, sex, religion, disability, national origin, ancestry or military status. Those claims will be subject to the monetary limits on compensatory and punitive damages established in R.C. §2315.18 & §2315.21 of Ohio's Tort Reform Act.
The Tort Reform Act caps do not establish any limitation on compensatory damages awarded that represent economic loss. However, compensatory damages awarded to a plaintiff for noneconomic loss cannot exceed the greater of $250,000.00 or three times the amount awarded for economic loss to a maximum of $350,000.00. There is a maximum of $500,000.00 for any occurrence.
Punitive damages, also known as exemplary damages, are capped at two times the amount of compensatory damages awarded unless the defendant is an individual or small employer as defined by the Act. Punitive damages awards against individual and small employer defendants cannot exceed two times the amount of compensatory damages awarded to the plaintiff against that defendant or ten percent of the individual or small employer's net worth when the discrimination occurred--up to a maximum of $350,000.00.
Employers may view these caps as limiting what they perceive to be runaway jury awards by juries. However, an award within the caps still can compensate employees victimized by discrimination and punish employers for committing unlawful discriminatory acts in the workplace.
