COLUMBUS — Gov. Mike DeWine has signed an executive order expanding Ohio’s policy on workplace domestic violence to offer more protection to state employees who are victims of such violence.
The Republican governor signed the order Wednesday. It adds new protections and expands the definition of domestic violence to include dating violence.
“It makes sense that survivors of dating violence should be afforded the same support and services as other domestic violence victims. Those working in state government can be confident that their workplace will be a supportive environment for all domestic violence victims,” DeWine said in a release.
The executive order updates the 2008 “Barbara Warner Workplace Domestic Violence Policy” and mirrors modifications made to Ohio law last year by House Bill 1, which was co-sponsored by House Minority Leader Emilia Sykes (D-Akron) and Sen. Nathan Manning (R-North Ridgeville), and increased protections for victims who suffer violence from an intimate partner in a dating relationship.
“Dating violence is domestic violence, and anything we can do to protect victims from their abusers will save lives. I’m encouraged by Governor DeWine’s executive order today to make protecting victims of dating violence a priority in our state,” Sykes said.
The order requires all state agencies, boards, and commissions to maintain and post lists of resources for survivors and perpetrators of domestic violence and take appropriate and necessary protective and corrective actions.
Corrective actions could include firing an employee who commits or threatens domestic violence on state property, at state-sponsored events or when using state resources.
DeWine’s office also announced that the governor plans to deliver his first State of the State address in Columbus, breaking with his predecessor’s pattern of taking the annual speech on the road.
Spokesman Dan Tierney says the Republican governor intends to give his speech at the Statehouse, the traditional location. No date has been set.
The speech is traditionally delivered to the Legislature, with Supreme Court justices, state officeholders and other officials attending but former Gov. John Kasich moved the address away from Columbus for the first time in 2012.