From June 25, 1982, to February 5, 1987, Brent Jennings was employed as a police officer/dispatcher for the city of Warrensville Heights. As a dispatcher, Jennings was required to answer incoming phone calls requesting police or fire department assistance and to dispatch the proper persons to meet those requests. On February 5, 1987, Jennings was called into the office of Warrensville Heights Police Chief Craig Merchant. Merchant was concerned about Jennings's involvement in "some drug incident in another community." In October 1986, Jennings had been arrested by Highland Heights police after he was found with two friends in a restroom stall at a theater, with cocaine and marijuana in the stall's toilet bowl. Jennings stated that he was not formally charged in the incident and that the record of his arrest in the incident was eventually expunged. At the meeting on February 5, Jennings gave Merchant his account of the incident. However, Merchant was not satisfied, particularly in light of Jennings's admissions during a preemployment polygraph test that he had previously used marijuana. Merchant testified that he told Jennings it was necessary for Jennings to take a polygraph test to confirm his account and to make certain he was not involved in the drug incident. Jennings testified that he knew the sole purpose of the polygraph test was to determine whether he had been involved with any drugs. Merchant told Jennings that he was not "after any criminal prosecution" and that the results of the polygraph test would not be used in any criminal proceeding. He also told Jennings that he must take the polygraph test or otherwise be discharged. Jennings refused to take the polygraph test. To avoid being discharged, Jennings submitted his resignation. Jennings later submitted an application for unemployment compensation. Under state law, individuals can be denied unemployment benefits if terminated for "just cause in connection with their work." A department rule prohibited any member from illegally taking, possessing, or using any controlled substances both on and off duty. Jennings argued that polygraph tests are unreliable and thus a refusal to take one cannot serve as a basis for a just-cause discharge. Moreover, the conduct being questioned was off-duty, not work-related, conduct. The city responded that a police dispatcher is the "hub" of the department, and an impaired dispatcher could undermine the public safety. It states that polygraph tests, though not admissible in evidence at court, can be a useful internal investigative device; and failure to take the test was insubordination.
Decide, answering the contentions of the parties. [City of Warrensville Heights v. Jennings, 569 N.E.2d 489 (Ohio)]