Court decisions from across the country have implications right here in Ohio. Here is a selection of recent cases, and why they matter.
In the case of Moss v. Lorain Bd. of Mental Retardation, 2016-Ohio-169, a student alleged that a board of developmental disabilities negligently and carelessly designed, constructed, and maintained a classroom kitchen that – according to the student – contained physical hazards that threatened the safety of the class because the student spilled coffee from a […]
In the case of Burton v. Cleveland Hts.-Univ. Hts., 2016-Ohio-2841, the Eighth Appellate District dismissed a high school graduate’s expulsion appeal because there was no longer an actual controversy for the court to decide. The school district suspended and expelled Burton, a high school student at the time, after he attacked two younger students who […]
In the case of Toledo City School Dist. Bd. of Edn. v. State Bd. of Edn., 146 Ohio St.3d 356, 2016-Ohio-2806, the Ohio Supreme Court held that “the General Assembly has constitutional authority to adjust local school funding retrospectively.” The dispute began when the Ohio Department of Education (“ODE”) “noticed that the number of community-school […]
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 […]
In the case of Combs v. Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources, 2016-Ohio-1565, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that “recreational user immunity” does not apply to the negligence of a property owner or the owner’s employees. The controversy occurred when an employee of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources used a boom mower to cut weeds […]
In the case of Baker v. Wayne Cty., 2015-Ohio-1566, the Ohio Supreme Court found that the edge drop at the limit of a paved road is part of the berm or shoulder and not a part of the public road for purposes of the public road exception to political subdivision immunity. The Baker case involved […]
In the case of Youngstown Edn. Assn. v. Kimble, 2016-Ohio-1481, involved a fight between a teacher’s association and a school district over the appointment of one of the five members to an academic distress commission. An academic distress commission, which must be created in each school district that has been declared to be in academic […]