Here is a compendium of current issues that affect Ohio’s public entities, plus McGown & Markling news of note.
Does a union commit an unfair labor practice by picketing the private employer of a board of education member? The answer is, “yes” according to an Ohio appellate court in the case of Harrison Hills Teachers Assn. v. State Emp. Relations Bd., 2016-Ohio-4661. The dispute began when “union members picketed on a public street outside […]
McGown & Markling spends a great deal of time advising public officials on how to recess into executive session and notice public meetings properly. So much time is spent on these issues because the penalties for violating the Ohio Open Meetings Act can be quite serious – as the Switzerland of Ohio Local School District […]
Matthew John Markling serves as General Counsel for the Ohio Educational Service Center Association (“OESCA”) and McGown & Markling is a longstanding strategic partner with OESCA. Please click here to view the May 25, 2016 OESCA Legislative e-Update. This e-Update provides information on the pending and enacted bills of interest to Ohio’s public education community. Bills […]
The U.S. Department of Education (“Department”), through the Office for Civil Rights, enforces Title IX, which prohibits discrimination on the “basis of sex” in any educational program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance. However, Title IX expressly permits “separate toilet, locker room, and shower facilities on the basis of sex” (34 C.F.R. §106.33). Given such […]
McGown & Markling is proud to announce that Matthew John Markling has been appointed to the Ohio State Bar Association Labor and Employment Law Specialty Board (“Specialty Board”). The Specialty Board is composed of between eight and twelve individuals, the majority of whom are attorneys generally recognized as experts in the field of labor and […]
“An employer must [always] consider providing unpaid leave to an employee with a disability as a reasonable accommodation if the employee requires it” according to a resource document issued by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”). Please read the above statement again. According to the EEOC, an employer must always treat a request for leave […]
Can a majority of the members of a public body hold private, prearranged discussions of public business by e-mail or other electronic means? “No,” answered the Ohio Supreme Court in the case of White v. King, Slip Opinion No. 2016-Ohio-2770. In White, a majority of school board members privately e-mailed among themselves, as well as […]
In a potential landmark case, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals (“Fourth Circuit”) found that Title IX of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title IX”) requires school districts to allow transgender students to use school bathrooms in accordance with their gender identity. While Ohio is not one of the states within the Fourth Circuit’s […]