In the case of Walton v. Valley View Local School Dist., 2nd Dist. Montgomery No. 28354, 2019-Ohio-4189, an Ohio appellate court held that a school district may not recoup money overpaid to its employees from contracts not related to the overpayment.
In this case, the treasurer of a school district determined that a coach had been overpaid for the 2017–2018 school year. In the following school year, the treasurer informed the coach of the overpayment and recouped the difference from the coach’s 2018–2019 contract. The coach brought a legal claim, arguing that the school did not have the right to withhold money overpaid in a previous contract year. The school district argued that it was entitled to recoup any overpaid funds because of a mistake of fact under Ohio law.
The Ohio appellate court held that the school district was not entitled to recoup overpaid money from contracts that were unrelated to the overpayment. The Ohio appellate court reasoned that the overpayment resulted from the completed 2017–2018 contract between the school district and the coach, and that the school district may not unilaterally act to recoup any overpayments from separate contracts between the two parties.
To read this case, click here.
Authors: Matthew John Markling and the McGown & Markling Team.
Note: This blog entry does not constitute – nor does it contain – legal advice. Legal jurisprudence is always changing like the Midwestern weather. As a result, this single blog entry cannot substitute for consultation with a McGown & Markling attorney. If legal advice is needed with respect to a specific factual situation, please feel free to contact a McGown & Markling attorney.