O'CONNOR , C.J. { 1} In this real-property-tax exemption case, the tax commissioner found that a portion of the property owned by the Talawanda City School District Board of Education ("BOE") was not used for school purposes, and he denied the claim of exemption as to that portion of the property. The Board of Tax Appeals ("BTA") affirmed, and the BOE has appealed. { 2} On its face, R.C. 3313.44 permits exemption based solely on ownership by the BOE. The dispute in this appeal centers...
O'CONNOR , C.J. { 1} In this appeal, we address whether an insurer engages in a "consumer transaction" as defined in the Ohio Consumer Sales Practices Act, R.C. Chapter 1345 ("CSPA"), when it issues a repair estimate in relation to its policyholder's claim for motor-vehicle damage. We hold that the insurer does not become a party to a consumer transaction in this circumstance. Thus, we vacate the court of appeals' judgment modifying and affirming the trial court's award of damages under...
KENNEDY , J. { 1} This is an appeal and cross-appeal from a decision of the Board of Tax Appeals ("BTA") that affirmed the tax commissioner's cancellation of a December 23, 2010 assessment of personal property tax issued by appellee and cross-appellant, the Pike County auditor, against appellant and cross-appellee, Martin Marietta Energy Systems, Inc., n.k.a. Lockheed Martin Energy Systems, Inc. (hereafter both referred to as "LMES"), for tax year 1993. Although LMES prevailed before the...
Per Curiam . { 1} This case arises out of a challenge to the registration of respondent-appellee Randy Simes as an eligible voter in Hamilton County. The First District Court of Appeals refused to grant a writ of mandamus compelling respondents-appellees the Hamilton County Board of Elections and its members to remove Simes from the voter rolls. We affirm. { 2} On July 13, 2015, relators-appellants, Barbara Holwadel and Steven W. Johnson, filed a motion for expedited oral argument. No...
Per Curiam . { 1} The Ohio Republican Party ("ORP") seeks a writ of mandamus compelling Cuyahoga County, its former county executive Edward FitzGerald, and Koula Celebrezze, the public-records manager for the Department of Public Works, to fulfill its public-records request seeking records of key-card-swipe data documenting when FitzGerald entered and exited county parking facilities and buildings. { 2} At the time of the ORP's request, the key-card-swipe data were "security records"...
FRENCH , J. { 1} Appellant, Nancy Toliver, is a natural-gas customer of intervening appellee, Vectren Energy Delivery of Ohio, Inc. In 2012, she participated in a program called the Percentage of Income Payment Plan, commonly referred to as "PIPP." 1 PIPP is an energy program that provides assistance to low-income residential customers who are unable to pay the full price of natural-gas or electric service. See Montgomery Cty. Bd. of Commrs. v. Pub. Util. Comm., 28 Ohio St.3d 171 ,...
Per Curiam . { 1} This is the second appeal to this court in an action that originated as a public-records mandamus case originally brought in the Eighth District Court of Appeals. The case was first appealed to us on the issues of statutory damages and attorney fees. We reversed the court of appeals' judgment on damages and remanded the cause for a determination of damages under the proper statutory criteria, and we affirmed the court of appeals' denial of attorney fees. State ex rel....
Per Curiam . { 1} Relator, Emilie DiFranco, requested public records from respondents, the city of South Euclid and its employee, Lee Williams (collectively, "South Euclid"). She alleges that South Euclid has only partially responded to her requests and that it did not produce the records that she did receive within a reasonable period of time. DiFranco seeks a writ of mandamus and statutory damages under the Public Records Act ("PRA"), R.C. 149.43. { 2} Because South Euclid may not...
Per Curiam . { 1} Relator-appellant, M.L., instituted this action seeking a writ of prohibition in the court of appeals to prohibit the Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court from continuing to exercise jurisdiction over her minor child. M.L. asserts that New Jersey is the child's home state for purposes of the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act ("UCCJEA"), codified in Ohio at R.C. Chapter 3127, and argues that jurisdiction therefore lies in the New Jersey family court in...
Per Curiam. { 1} This real-property-valuation case concerns the proper valuation for tax year 2009 of a Steak `n Shake restaurant located in Warren County. Appellant, Steak `n Shake, Inc., n.k.a. Steak `n Shake Operations, Inc., filed a complaint seeking a reduction of the value assigned to its property; appellee Warren County Board of Revision ("BOR") retained appellee auditor's original valuation for the property. At the hearing before the Board of Tax Appeals ("BTA"), the property...
Per Curiam. { 1} This is an appeal of a mandamus case challenging an award to a workers' compensation claimant of additional compensation for the violation of a specific safety requirement ("VSSR"). Appellant, Precision Steel Services, Inc., alleged that appellee Industrial Commission abused its discretion when it determined that Precision Steel violated the safety regulations in Ohio Adm.Code 4123:1-5-14(G)(1) by failing to repair or replace a crane hook that was missing a safety latch and...
FRENCH , J. { 1} In the proceedings below, appellant, Pilkington North America, Inc., filed a motion for relief from judgment under Civ.R. 60(B). Pilkington sought relief from an order of appellee, the Public Utilities Commission, issued February 19, 2009, from which Pilkington did not appeal. The commission denied Pilkington's motion, finding that Pilkington did not meet the requirements of Civ.R. 60(B) and that, in any event, Pilkington was not entitled to relief because it may not use...
LANZINGER , J. { 1} Appellant, Travis Blankenship, challenges as cruel and unusual punishment the sex-offender-registration and address-verification requirements imposed upon him as part of his sentence for violating R.C. 2907.04 by engaging in unlawful sexual conduct with M.H., a 15-year-old, when he was 21. Because we hold that the Tier II registration requirements imposed upon him are not so extreme as to be grossly disproportionate to the crime or shocking to a reasonable person and...
O'CONNOR , C.J. { 1} In this case, which is before us on the certification of state-law questions by the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, Eastern Division, we address whether, under Ohio's Dormant Mineral Act, codified in R.C. 5301.56, a recorded lease of severed oil and gas rights, or the expiration of that lease, is a title transaction that constitutes a saving event to preclude the severed mineral rights from being deemed abandoned and reunited with...
Per Curiam . { 1} Respondent, Robert Paul DeMarco of Solon, Ohio, Attorney Registration No. 0031530, was admitted to the practice of law in Ohio in 1969. In February 2014, relator, the Toledo Bar Association, charged him with professional misconduct for making false statements to a court in Lucas County. Based upon the parties' stipulations and evidence presented at the hearing, a three-member hearing panel of the Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline 1 issued a report...
{ 1} The cause is dismissed, sua sponte, as having been improvidently accepted. O'CONNOR, C.J., and PFEIFER, O'DONNELL, LANZINGER, FRENCH, and O'NEILL, JJ., concur. KENNEDY, J., dissents.
FRENCH , J. { 1} This appeal presents questions regarding the insurability of employer intentional torts under R.C. 2745.01. We hold that an insurance provision that excludes coverage for acts committed with the deliberate intent to injure an employee precludes coverage for employer intentional torts, which require a finding that the employer intended to injure the employee. Factual Background { 2} Appellee, Duane Allen Hoyle, brought this action to recover for injuries he sustained...
LANZINGER , J. { 1} In this case, we are asked to determine whether the Ohio Department of Transportation ("ODOT") may be subject to liability arising from its decisions on improving public-highways. 1 We hold that ODOT is immune from liability with respect to its decisions whether to improve an existing highway, which portions of the highway to improve, and what type of improvements to make. In executing its decisions to improve a highway, however, ODOT has a duty to ensure that it...
LANZINGER , J. { 1} Jason Dean was found guilty of all charged offenses and was sentenced to death for the aggravated murder of Titus Arnold and the attempted murder of six other people. On direct appeal, we reversed Dean's convictions, vacated the death sentence, and remanded the case for a new trial. See State v. Dean, 127 Ohio St.3d 140 , 2010-Ohio-5070, 937 N.E.2d 97. { 2} In this direct appeal of Dean's convictions upon retrial, we affirm the convictions and sentence of death....
Per Curiam . { 1} Respondent, Jason Richard Phillabaum of Cincinnati, Ohio, Attorney Registration No. 0072219, was admitted to the practice of law in Ohio in 2000. { 2} On March 3, 2014, a probable-cause panel of the Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline, 1 now named the Board of Professional Conduct, certified to the board a two-count complaint filed against Phillabaum by relator, disciplinary counsel. In that complaint, relator alleged that while employed as an...
