Hurm Law Firm Client Secures Dramatic Win Before the Ohio Civil Rights Commission

In a dispute between a Hurm Law Firm client and a Toledo, OH port facility in June 2024, a forceful blow was struck against discrimination at the Ohio Civil Rights Commission. The Commission’s original decision against a probable cause determination was reversed and the case was allowed to proceed in a pivotal turn of events.

The Hurm Law Firm’s client is Otis Brown, who has been engaged in a decade-long struggle with his former employer Midwest Terminals of Toledo, Inc. over its alleged racial and age-based discrimination. Among other things, Mr. Brown alleges that Midwest Terminals of Toledo refused to give him the same training opportunities as white workers. Additionally, he alleges that the employer applied its absenteeism policy in a deeply unfair way, removing absenteeism points for white workers in situations where it refused to remove the same points for Mr. Brown and other African American workers. 

Prior to this dispute before the Ohio Civil Rights Commission, Mr. Brown had been engaged in a seven-year-long struggle with Midwest Terminals of Toledo which resulted in a finding by the National Labor Relations Board that Mr. Brown had been unlawfully terminated. That finding resulted in Mr. Brown’s reinstatement and seven years of back pay.

The Ohio Civil Rights Commission’s staff determination regarding Mr. Brown’s latest dispute with Midwest Terminals of Toledo was that there was no probable cause for discrimination; a determination that the Hurm Law Firm appealed on Mr. Brown’s behalf. At the first hearing on June 7, 2024, Attorney Hurm laid out the facts of the case in such a compelling way that the Commission decided to remand the matter back to the staff investigator to gather more facts. On June 27, 2024, the Commission reconvened and the parties presented their positions once again.

After a brief discussion and question-and-answer session, one of the commissioners moved to confirm the finding of no probable cause and motioned to rule against Mr. Brown. After the first two commissioners voted in favor of the motion, Mr. Brown’s hopes looked dim, but all three of the remaining commissioners voted “no” – prompting an audible gasp in the full hearing room. “After the first two votes were against us, I was shocked and disappointed, but the Commission got it right in the end,” said Attorney Hurm. After that motion to rule against Mr. Brown failed, the Commission moved to vote for a probable cause finding. The motion carried unanimously. 

With his victory before the Ohio Civil Rights Commission, Mr. Brown’s claim will now go to conciliation and if that is not successful, then a complaint will be filed by the Ohio Civil Rights Commission before an administrative law judge. Mr. Brown is now promised his day in court.