Burson v. Ohio Environmental Protection Agency

Citations

• 2026 Ohio 2131

Syllabus

Civ.R. 56; motion for summary judgment; disability discrimination; failure to accommodate; adverse action; termination; hostile work environment; retaliation. Defendant was entitled to judgment as a matter of law on plaintiff's claim for disability discrimination because plaintiff could not establish a prima facie case of disability discrimination. Defendant produced evidence of legitimate, non-discriminatory reasons for disciplining plaintiff, denying his request for remote work, and terminating his employment, and plaintiff failed to produce evidence of pretext. Additionally, plaintiff's disability discrimination claim based upon failure to accommodate likewise failed as a matter of law because the undisputed evidence showed that plaintiff caused the breakdown in the interactive process between the parties. Moreover, plaintiff's claim for retaliation failed as a matter of law because, even assuming plaintiff could prove a prima facie case of retaliation, defendant articulated legitimate, non-retaliatory reasons for the challenged actions, and plaintiff did not produce evidence demonstrating that those reasons were a pretext for retaliation. Finally, plaintiff's claim for hostile work environment failed as a matter of law as the record did not contain evidence from which a reasonable trier of fact could conclude that any of defendant's alleged conduct was discriminatory, severe, physically threatening, or interfered with plaintiff's work performance. Judgment for defendant.