Ohio Rev. Code » Chapter 4111
Ohio Revised Code

Ohio Rev. Code § 4111.17 (2026)

Prohibiting discrimination in payment of wages

✓ current as of May 2026
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Effective:
July 1, 2000
Latest Legislation:
House Bill 471 - 123rd General Assembly
PDF:
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(A) No employer, including the state and political subdivisions thereof, shall discriminate in the payment of wages on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, or ancestry by paying wages to any employee at a rate less than the rate at which the employer pays wages to another employee for equal work on jobs the performance of which requires equal skill, effort, and responsibility, and which are performed under similar conditions.

(B) Nothing in this section prohibits an employer from paying wages to one employee at a rate different from that at which the employer pays another employee for the performance of equal work under similar conditions on jobs requiring equal skill, effort, and responsibility, when the payment is made pursuant to any of the following:

(1) A seniority system;

(2) A merit system;

(3) A system which measures earnings by the quantity or quality of production;

(4) A wage rate differential determined by any factor other than race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, or ancestry.

(C) No employer shall reduce the wage rate of any employee in order to comply with this section.

(D) The director of commerce shall carry out, administer, and enforce this section. Any employee discriminated against in violation of this section may sue in any court of competent jurisdiction to recover two times the amount of the difference between the wages actually received and the wages received by a person performing equal work for the employer, from the date of the commencement of the violation, and for costs, including attorney fees. The director may take an assignment of any such wage claim in trust for such employee and sue in the employee's behalf. In any civil action under this section, two or more employees of the same employer may join as co-plaintiffs in one action. The director may sue in one action for claims assigned to the director by two or more employees of the same employer. No agreement to work for a discriminatory wage constitutes a defense for any civil or criminal action to enforce this section. No employer shall discriminate against any employee because such employee makes a complaint or institutes, or testifies in, any proceeding under this section.

(E) Any action arising under this section shall be initiated within one year after the date of violation.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 26 cases (8 in the last 5 years), 1990–2025 · leading case: Cummings v. Greater Cleveland Reg'l Transit Auth..
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Cummings v. Greater Cleveland Reg'l Transit Auth. (N.D. Ohio 2015). · cites it 23× “§ 206 (d)(1) ("No employer having employees subject to any provisions of this section shall discriminate, within any establishment in which such employees are employed, between employees on the basis of sex by paying wages to employees in such establishment at a rate less than…”
Jones v. St. Jude Med. S.C., Inc. (S.D. Ohio 2011). · cites it 6× “: (i) a seniority system; (ii) a merit system; (iii) a system which measures earnings by quantity or quality of production; or (iv) a differential based on any other factor other than sex (or race).”
Creech v. Ohio Cas. Ins. (S.D. Ohio 1996). · cites it 10× “Defendant contends that Plaintiffs cannot succeed on their claims under the Equal Pay Act and O.R.C. § 4111.17, inasmuch as they cannot establish that the male employees to whose compensation they compare their own were comparable in all material respects.”
Hawley v. Dresser Indus., Inc. (S.D. Ohio 1990). · cites it 8× “See Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 4111.17 (E) (Anderson 1980).”
Birch v. Cuyahoga Cnty. Prob. Court (Ohio Ct. App. 2007). · cites it 3× “{¶ 7} Appellant filed a new action in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas on February 14, 2005, alleging wage-based sex discrimination in violation of the Ohio Civil Rights Act and the Ohio Fair Minimum Wage Standards Act, R.C. 4111.17. On May 10, 2005, appellant moved the…”
Hollowell v. Soc'y Bank & Trust (Ohio Ct. App. 1992). · cites it 4× “Then, on January 24, 1990, Hollowell filed a complaint in this court against Trustcorp, Society, Hackworth and Allen, alleging race and wage discrimination in violation of Section 1981, Title 42, U.”
Stone v. Greater Cleveland Reg'l Transit Auth. (Ohio Ct. App. 1993). · cites it 5× “WAGE DISCRIMINATION UNDER R.C. 4111.17, THE EQUAL PAY ACT “As there is little Ohio case law in this area, the court must again look to federal law for guidance.”
Larkins v. G.D. Searle & Co. (Ohio Ct. App. 1991). · cites it 3× “The trial court erred in finding that filing a charge of discrimination pursuant to O.”
Simmons v. Ohio Civil Serv. Emp. Assoc. (S.D. Ohio 2003). · cites it 4× “In enacting a framework for the resolution of labor-related claims, the Ohio legislature created an administrative agency, the Ohio State Employment Relations Board (“SERB”).”
Erin Dindinger, Lisa Loring, & Elizabeth Freund v. Allsteel, Inc. & Scott Mills (Iowa 2015). “at 266 (quoting Ohio Rev.Code Ann. § 4111.17(D)). The court relied on this language to conclude, “the legislature clearly indicated its intent to permit recovery from the beginning of the prohibited discrimination until its termination.”
Sullivan v. Delphi Auto. Sys. Corp. (S.D. Ohio 2002). · cites it 4× “§ 206 (d), by paying her less than a similarly situated male employee; and 9) a claim that the Defendant has violated Ohio’s Equal Pay Act, § 4111.17 of the Ohio Revised Code. This case is now before the Court on the Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc.”
Kramer v. Windsor Park Nursing Home, Inc. (S.D. Ohio 1996). · cites it 2× “99, states “[w]hoever violates this chapter is subject to a civil action for damages, injunctive relief, or any other appropriate relief.”
Show all 26 citing cases →
— Ohio Rev. Code § 4111.17(A) — 8 cases
Creech v. Ohio Cas. Ins. (S.D. Ohio 1996). “Defendant contends that Plaintiffs cannot succeed on their claims under the Equal Pay Act and O.R.C. § 4111.17, inasmuch as they cannot establish that the male employees to whose compensation they compare their own were comparable in all material respects.”
Hawley v. Dresser Indus., Inc. (S.D. Ohio 1990). “See Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 4111.17 (E) (Anderson 1980).”
Birch v. Cuyahoga Cnty. Prob. Court (Ohio Ct. App. 2007). “{¶ 7} Appellant filed a new action in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas on February 14, 2005, alleging wage-based sex discrimination in violation of the Ohio Civil Rights Act and the Ohio Fair Minimum Wage Standards Act, R.C. 4111.17. On May 10, 2005, appellant moved the…”
Stone v. Greater Cleveland Reg'l Transit Auth. (Ohio Ct. App. 1993). “WAGE DISCRIMINATION UNDER R.C. 4111.17, THE EQUAL PAY ACT “As there is little Ohio case law in this area, the court must again look to federal law for guidance.”
Hollowell v. Soc'y Bank & Trust (Ohio Ct. App. 1992). “Then, on January 24, 1990, Hollowell filed a complaint in this court against Trustcorp, Society, Hackworth and Allen, alleging race and wage discrimination in violation of Section 1981, Title 42, U.”
— Ohio Rev. Code § 4111.17(B) — 2 cases
Tseng v. MetroHealth Sys. (Ohio Ct. App. 2025).
Elba v. Mac's Convenience Stores, LLC (S.D. Ohio 2025).
— Ohio Rev. Code § 4111.17(B)(6) — 1 case
Simmons v. Ohio Civil Serv. Emp. Assoc. (S.D. Ohio 2003). “In enacting a framework for the resolution of labor-related claims, the Ohio legislature created an administrative agency, the Ohio State Employment Relations Board (“SERB”).”
— Ohio Rev. Code § 4111.17(D) — 3 cases
Erin Dindinger, Lisa Loring, & Elizabeth Freund v. Allsteel, Inc. & Scott Mills (Iowa 2015). “at 266 (quoting Ohio Rev.Code Ann. § 4111.17(D)). The court relied on this language to conclude, “the legislature clearly indicated its intent to permit recovery from the beginning of the prohibited discrimination until its termination.”
Sutherland v. Nationwide Gen. Ins. (Ohio Ct. App. 1995).
Bruno v. Cuyahoga Cmty. Coll. (Ohio Ct. App. 1993).
— Ohio Rev. Code § 4111.17(E) — 3 cases
Elba v. Mac's Convenience Stores, LLC (S.D. Ohio 2025).
Wells v. Nisbet Inc. (S.D. Ohio 2022).
Bruno v. Cuyahoga Cmty. Coll. (Ohio Ct. App. 1993).
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