BU 217 Unit 2 legal environment paper example

Whose Law, in What Order, in Which Court: The Legal Environment of a Small Manufacturer in Columbus, Ohio

Student Name

Business, Herzing University

BU 217: Business Ethics and the Legal Environment

Instructor Name

January 22, 2026

Whose Law, in What Order, in Which Court: The Legal Environment of a Small Manufacturer in Columbus, Ohio

The Business and the Jurisdiction

Buckeye Coatings is a composite 60-employee company in Columbus, Ohio, that makes industrial paints and sells them to customers in Ohio, Indiana and Michigan. It operates under two layers of law at once: federal law, which applies across the country, and Ohio law, which applies within the state. Where the two conflict, valid federal law controls under the Constitution's Supremacy Clause. Where federal law sets a minimum, Ohio may add protections above it. This paper describes the sources of law that govern Buckeye in order of authority, with a real example of each, and then the two court systems in which Buckeye could sue or be sued.

Sources of Law, in Order of Authority

Constitutions. The U.S. Constitution is the highest law in the country. Its Commerce Clause gives Congress the power to regulate commerce among the states (U.S. Const. art. I, § 8, cl. 3), which is the basis for most federal business regulation. Because Buckeye sells paint across state lines, its business falls squarely within that power. The Ohio Constitution is the highest law of the state; for example, it sets Ohio's own minimum wage, adjusted each year for inflation, which applies alongside the federal minimum wage.

Statutes. Legislatures pass statutes within the power their constitutions give them. A federal example is Title VII, the 1964 federal law that prohibits employment discrimination by employers of 15 or more employees. An Ohio example is the state's civil rights law, which prohibits employment discrimination by employers of four or more persons, under Ohio Rev. Code § 4112.02, so it reaches smaller employers than federal law does.

Regulations. Agencies issue regulations under authority a statute gives them, and those regulations have the force of law. The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, acting under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, issued the hazard communication standard, which requires chemical manufacturers like Buckeye to classify the hazards of the chemicals they make, label containers and provide safety data sheets; the standard is codified at 29 C.F.R. § 1910.1200. For a paint maker, that single regulation shapes labeling, training and paperwork every day.

Case decisions. Courts interpret constitutions, statutes and regulations, and their decisions bind lower courts in the same system. A federal example: the Supreme Court held that Congress could regulate even a farmer's wheat grown for his own use, because the combined effect of such activity on interstate commerce was substantial (Wickard v. Filburn, 1942). That broad reading of the Commerce Clause is why federal regulation reaches businesses like Buckeye. An Ohio example: the Supreme Court of Ohio recognized that an employer may not fire an at-will employee for a reason that violates a clear public policy expressed in Ohio law, creating a claim for wrongful discharge that exists alongside the statutes (Greeley v. Miami Valley Maintenance Contractors, Inc., 1990).

The Two Court Systems

Ohio courts. Most business disputes in Ohio begin in the court of common pleas, the general trial court in each of Ohio's 88 counties; for Buckeye, that is the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas. Smaller claims go to municipal or county courts, which have limited jurisdiction. Appeals go to one of Ohio's 12 district courts of appeals, and from there, in cases the court agrees to hear, to the Supreme Court of Ohio, the state's highest court.

Federal courts. Federal trial courts in Ohio are the U.S. District Courts for the Northern and Southern Districts of Ohio; Columbus lies in the Southern District. Appeals go to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and then, rarely, to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Which door a case goes through depends on jurisdiction. A federal court can hear a case that arises under federal law, such as a Title VII discrimination claim or a dispute over the hazard communication standard. It can also hear a case between citizens of different states when more than $75,000 is at stake, even if only state law is involved, a rule set out in 28 U.S.C. § 1332. If Buckeye sued a Michigan customer for $200,000 of unpaid invoices, it could file in federal court under that rule, or in state court. A contract dispute with an Ohio customer over the same amount would belong in state court.

What It Means for Buckeye

For a small manufacturer, the practical lesson is that every important obligation has more than one source. An employee's discrimination complaint may raise claims under both federal and Ohio statutes, and could be filed in either court system, but Ohio's statute covers the company at a smaller size and adds the state as another place to enforce the law. A safety issue is governed first by a federal regulation, interpreted by federal agencies and courts. A firing that breaks no statute may still be challenged under Ohio case law. The course text describes this layering of constitutional, statutory, administrative and case law as the legal environment in which every business operates (Crane et al., 2019). Buckeye's managers do not need to be lawyers, but they need to know which layer a question belongs to before they decide whom to ask.

How the Layers Fit Together in One Situation

A single event shows how the layers interact. Suppose a Buckeye mixing-room worker is exposed to a solvent whose container label was missing, reports it to a supervisor, and is fired a week later. The hazard communication standard, a federal regulation, governs whether the label was required and what training the worker should have received; the federal safety agency could inspect and cite the company. The federal safety statute also protects employees who report hazards from retaliation, with a complaint filed through the agency within a short deadline. If the firing broke no statute's specific terms, Ohio's case law on wrongful discharge in violation of public policy could offer a separate claim in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas. And if the worker believed the firing was also connected to a protected characteristic, the state and federal discrimination statutes would add further routes, in either court system. One event, then, can involve a regulation, two statutes, a line of state cases and two court systems. Knowing which layer governs which part of the problem is the first step in handling it well.

References

Crane, A., Matten, D., Glozer, S., & Spence, L. J. (2019). Business ethics: Managing corporate citizenship and sustainability in the age of globalization (5th ed.). Oxford University Press.

Diversity of citizenship; amount in controversy; costs, 28 U.S.C. § 1332 (2025).

Greeley v. Miami Valley Maintenance Contractors, Inc., 49 Ohio St. 3d 228, 551 N.E.2d 981 (1990).

Hazard communication, 29 C.F.R. § 1910.1200 (2025).

Ohio Rev. Code § 4112.02 (2025).

U.S. Const. art. I, § 8, cl. 3.

Wickard v. Filburn, 317 U.S. 111 (1942).