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 Ryan v. Ashtabula, 2023-Ohio-621, the special master recommended dismissing a public record requestor’s complaint under R.C. 149.43 as the requester asked for all emails from 2021, nonexistent “accurate invoices” reflecting the requester’s view of facts, and records the city had already provided. In this case, the requester simply argued that the […]
In the case of Evans v. Gardner, 2023-Ohio-558, an appellate court held that attorney-client privilege did not apply when an attorney, who represented the non-party business and business’s president, inadvertently sent an email, sent by the president, for in camera review that the business claimed was protected by the attorney-client privilege. In this case, the […]
In the case of Augustine v. Bd. of Edn. of the Toledo City Sch. Dist., Lucas C.P. No. G-4801-CI-202202888-000 (Jan. 26, 2023), a common pleas court refused to find that an implied cause of action exists under R.C. 5123.61(L), which provides that “[n]o employer or any person with the authority to do so shall discharge, […]
In the case of Brown v. JC Austintown, Inc., 2023-Ohio-553, an appellate court held that an employer’s mere sending of a pre-litigation response letter to an employee to discuss the alleged facts, which was silent as to arbitration, was not inconsistent with the right to arbitrate under the circumstances in this case. In this case, […]
In the case of State ex rel. Lusane v. Kent Police Dept., Slip Opinion No. 2023-Ohio-480, the Ohio Supreme Court held that dash- and body-cam recordings are public records and subject to disclosure after a public record request under R.C. 149.43 unless the arrest footage meet the confidential law enforcement investigatory records (“CLEIR”) exception, but, […]
In the case of Weiler v. Technipower, Inc., 2023-Ohio-465, an appellate court held that an applicant does not have a right to be employed by a potential staffing agency simply because the staffing agency reached out to the applicant as to a possible position of employment with an unnamed client and then stopped communicating with […]
In the case of State ex rel. Util. Supervisors Employees’ Assn. v. Cleveland, 2023-Ohio-463, an appellate court denied a union’s request to compel a city to fulfil two public records requests involving all agreements — proposed signed or unsigned, completed or failed — between the city and any contractors for water and sewer related work […]
In the case of Ault v. Durbin, 2022-Ohio-4826, a special master concluded that the personal notes of a councilperson were not public records as such notes were kept for personal use only. In this case, the requester argued that the personal notes of the councilperson were required to be maintained as public records. In response, […]