Hale v. Volunteers of America

In Hale v. Volunteers of America, 158 Ohio App. 3d 415, 2004 Ohio 4508, 816 N.E.2d 259, the Court considered whether regulations regarding the operation of residential facilities sufficiently manifested a clear public policy independent of the whistleblower statute to preclude the termination of two employees who had spoken out about the care and treatment of residents in a residential treatment center. After looking to decisions from the Ohio Supreme Court and other appellate courts, we concluded "that the independent source of public policy must parallel the public policy set forth in the whistleblower statute." Indications of a clear public policy included those policies that imposed an affirmative duty on the employee to report a violation, that specifically prohibited employers from retaliating against employees who had filed complaints, or that protected the public's health and safety. In Hale, we concluded that none of those factors were present in the plaintiffs' wrongful-termination claim. And we determined that the regulations that had been cited by the plaintiffs did not specifically protect residents of a treatment facility from abuse.