Franklin v. Daimler Chrysler Corp

In Franklin v. Daimler Chrysler Corp., Lucas App. No. L- 05-1244, 2006 Ohio 5620, the Sixth District Court of Appeals reversed a trial court's order that granted summary judgment in favor of a defendant-employer where it found that the claimant did not have notice of the impending dismissal. Id. at P14-15. There, Mr. Franklin, like Ms. Wilkerson, was unrepresented by counsel in the underlying administrative proceedings and was therefore unaware of his statutory obligation to file a complaint after being served with the defendant-employer's notice of appeal. Id. at P12. The Court noted that the defendant-employer's notice of appeal gave no notice that the claimant "was not only required to file a 'petition,' but would then be required to re-prove his claim." Id. The court concluded that the notice of appeal was insufficient to put the claimant on "notice that he was required to do anything or that, without particular action, the court would consider a dismissal in favor of the defendant-employer." Id. This, coupled with the fact that the court issued a scheduling order that did not give Mr. Franklin notice of the court's intent to dismiss, led the Sixth District to reverse the judgment in favor of the defendant-employer. Id. at PP13-15.