One of the questions clients often ask me is whether they can pursue a plaintiff for defense costs after a successful dismissal. It only seems fair to the client that if they have to pay legal fees if the employee wins a discrimination lawsuit, the employee should be held to the same standard.
The answer is that an employer can pursue a plaintiff for legal fees, but it has to prove that the lawsuit was brought frivolously, which is a tall order. Ohio law defines frivolous conduct as follows:
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It obviously serves merely to harass or maliciously injure another party to the civil action or appeal or is for another improper purpose.
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It is not warranted under existing law, cannot be supported by a good faith argument for an extension, modification, or reversal of existing law, or cannot be supported by a good faith argument for the establishment of new law.
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The conduct consists of allegations or other factual contentions that have no evidentiary support or are not likely to have evidentiary support after a reasonable opportunity for further investigation or discovery.
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The conduct consists of denials or factual contentions that are not warranted by the evidence or are not reasonably based on a lack of information or belief.
While it is not impossible, it is very difficult to prove that a employee acted frivolously in filing an employment lawsuit. Instead of spending time and money worrying about recouping legal fees from ex-employees, employers would better served chalking up litigation expenses as a cost of doing business, or simply avoiding litigation in the first place.
Presented by Kohrman Jackson & Krantz, with offices in Cleveland and Columbus. For more information, contact Jon Hyman, a partner in our Labor & Employment group, at (216) 736-7226 or jth@kjk.com.