Justia Ohio Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

This was an appeal from a judgment denying the request of Appellant for a writ of mandamus to compel Appellee, Columbus State Community College, to provide access to its complaint files, litigation files, and certain e-mails, and to award statutory damages and reasonable attorney fees. The court of appeals denied the writ. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that Appellant did not establish by the requisite clear and convincing evidence that Columbus State violated Ohio Rev. Code. 149.43 by denying her record requests and that the court of appeals did not err by (1) denying Appellant's request for access to the requested complaint and litigation files, as Appellant's request was overbroad; (2) denying Appellant's request for e-mails based on her claim that Columbus State had violated section 149.43(B)(2) by not initially organizing its records so that work-related e-mails could be retrieved based on sender and recipient status, as section 149.43(B)(2) does not expressly require public offices to maintain e-mail record so they can be retrieved based on sender and recipient status; and (3) determining that Columbus State had complied with section 149.43(B)(2). View "State ex rel. Zidonis v. Columbus State Cmty. Coll." on Justia Law

Appellant requested a writ of manadmus asking that Appellee, the municipal court judge, be ordered to vacate his judgment dismissing a misdemeanor case against Appellant. The court of appeals denied the request, and the dismissal allowed the state to seek a felony indictment against Appellant. Appellant also sought a hearing to consider his 'counterclaim' against dismissal. Appellant appealed the dismissal of the municipal court case. The appeal was dismissed but was reinstated. The Supreme Court affirmed the denial of the writ, holding (1) Appellant had an adequate legal remedy by way of his reinstated appeal from the judgment dismissing the case, and therefore, mandamus was not appropriate because Appellant had an adequate remedy in the ordinary course of law; and (2) insofar as Appellant claimed that the judge failed to comply with Ohio R. Crim. P. 12(F) by failing to state his findings in determining the motion, this contention is regularly addressed on appeal. View "State ex rel. Blanton v. Municipal Court (Hany)" on Justia Law

Certain individuals who worked for American Chemical Society (ACS) founded Leadscope Inc. and later received a patent for technology similar to that on which they worked while at ACS. ACS filed a lawsuit against Leadscope. A newspaper subsequently published an article about the suit quoting ACS's counsel. In pertinent part, the jury returned verdicts in favor of Leadscope on its counterclaims for defamation and unfair competition. The court of appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court (1) upheld the appellate court's decision affirming the trial court's denial of ACS's motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict (JNOV) on the unfair competition claim, holding (i) a party alleging a claim for unfair competition must show the action is baseless and the opposing party had the intent to injure the party's ability to be competitive, and (ii) the jury instructions here did not meet that test, but the jury could not reasonably have made any other determination with proper instructions; and (2) reversed the appellate court's finding that the trial court properly overruled ACS's motion for JNOV on Leadscope's counterclaim for defamation, holding (i) ACS's statements were not defamatory, and (ii) a client is vicariously liable for its attorney's defamatory statements only if the client ratified the statements. View "Am. Chem. Soc'y v. Leadscope, Inc." on Justia Law

This was an action for writ of mandamus to compel Respondent, the Beaver Township Board of Trustees, to adopt a resolution to cause the Mahoning County Board of Elections to submit to the Beaver Township electors the question of whether the township should adopt a limited home-rule government. The Supreme Court denied the writ, holding that Relators did not strictly comply with the applicable statutory procedure, as Relators did not submit the proper petition to the board of township trustees as required by Ohio Rev. Code 504.01(A)(4), instead submitting a petition purporting to be under Ohio Rev. Code 504.14 to the township fiscal officer. Section 504.14 did not apply because Beaver Township had not adopted limited home-rule government. View "State ex rel. Davis v. Beaver Twp. Bd. of Trs." on Justia Law

This was an original action pursuant to Ohio Const. art. XVI, 1 for a writ of mandamus compelling Respondent, the Ohio Ballot Board, including the secretary of state, to reconvene forthwith to replace ballot language previously adopted with ballot language that properly described the proposed redistricting amendment so that it may appear on ballot for the November 6, 2012 general election. The Supreme Court granted the writ, holding that Relators established that the ballot board's condensed ballot language for the proposed constitutional amendment was defective, and thus invalid, because it contained factual inaccuracies and material omissions that had the effect of misleading the voters. View "State ex rel. Voters First v. Ohio Ballot Bd." on Justia Law

At issue in this case was whether a county sheriff can meet the constitutional obligation of providing notice of a sheriff's sale to a plaintiff by letter directing the plaintiff's attorney to monitor a website for a listing of the date, time, and location of sale. The court of appeals affirmed the judgment of the trial court in denying plaintiff's motion to set aside the sheriff's sale. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that constructive notice by publication to a party with a property interest in a foreclosure proceeding via a sheriff's office website is insufficient to constitute due process when that party's address is known or easily ascertainable. Remanded. View "PHH Mtge. Corp. v. Prater" on Justia Law

LTC Properties, Inc., which owned a congregate care assisted-living facility in Licking County, contested the tax-year 2007 valuation of its property as found by the auditor, as retained by the Licking County Board of Revision, and as affirmed by the Board of Tax Appeals (BTA). On the merits, LTC contended (1) the auditor overvalued its property by predicating his cost-based valuation on the cost schedule for nursing homes and private hospitals rather than on the cost schedule for apartment buildings with twenty to thirty-nine rental units; and (2) the BTA erred by denying LTC's request for a continuance of the evidentiary hearing. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the BTA's decision to affirm the County's use of the nursing home / private hospital cost schedule as a starting point in performing a cost valuation of LTC's assisted-living facility was neither unreasonable nor unlawful; and (2) the BTA did not abuse its discretion by denying a continuance. View "LTC Props., Inc. v. Licking County Bd. of Revision" on Justia Law

Appellant, who was incarcerated, petitioned for a writ of habeas corpus, claiming (1) the Adult Parole Authority improperly revoked his parole, and (2) the evidence obtained by his parole officer's search of his e-mail account constituted a criminal act, and the evidence obtained from the search could not be used to revoke his parole. The court of appeals dismissed Appellant's habeas corpus petition. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) Appellant's parole was properly revoked; (2) the evidence obtained by Appellant's parole officer's search was lawfully obtained; and (3) habeas corpus is generally not available to challenge parole conditions that allegedly restrained a petitioner's liberty. View "Sullivan v. Bunting" on Justia Law

Appellant, a classified civil-service employee, filed a writ of mandamus to compel appellees, the Miami County Sheriff's Office and Sheriff Charles Cox, to reinstate him pursuant to Ohio Rev. Code 145.362 to his previous deputy-sheriff position and salary or to a similar position and salary and to award him back pay and benefits. The court of appeals held that Appellant had an adequate remedy by way of a civil-service appeal to the State Personnel Board of Review (SPBR) from the sheriff's office's refusal to perform the requested actions. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) classified civil-service employees like Appellant have an adequate remedy by administrative appeal to SPBR from an employer's refusal to reinstate them to their salaries and former positions; and (2) Appellant waived his claim that the collective-bargaining agreement between the sheriff's office and the employee union prevented him from instituting an appeal to SPBR. View "State ex rel. Byers v. Sheriff'Âs Office" on Justia Law

At issue in this appeal was whether a private sanitary landfill is a public utility that is exempt from township zoning regulations pursuant to Ohio Rev. Code. 519.211. The trial court concluded that the private landfill was a public utility not subject to the zoning restrictions of the township. The court of appeals held that the landfill was entitled to the trial court's declaration that it was a public utility for purposes of section 519.211. The Supreme Court reversed, holding (1) a privately owned sanitary landfill cannot be a common-law public utility exempt from township zoning when there is no public regulation or oversight of its rates and charges, no statutory or regulatory requirement that all solid waste delivered to the landfill be accepted for disposal, and no right of the public to demand and receive its services; and (2) thus, the appellate court erred in affirming the trial court's declaration that the landfill was a public utility for purposes of section 519.211. Remanded. View "Rumpke Sanitary Landfill, Inc. v. Colerain Twp." on Justia Law