Case Title: Theobald v. Univ. of Cincinnati

Citation: 2004-Ohio-1527

Docket Number: 20021815 and 20022008

State: ohio

Court: Ohio Supreme Court

Date: 2004-04-14T00:00:00Z

Document:
[Cite as Theobald v. Univ. of Cincinnati, 101 Ohio St.3d 370, 2004-Ohio-1527.] 
 
 
THEOBALD ET AL., APPELLEES, v. UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI, APPELLEE, ET 
AL.; SHARMA ET AL., APPELLANTS. 
[Cite as Theobald v. Univ. of Cincinnati, 101 Ohio St.3d 370, 2004-Ohio-1527.] 
Courts — Jurisdiction — Immunity — Pursuant to R.C. 2743.02(F), Court of 
Claims has exclusive jurisdiction to determine whether a state employee is 
immune from liability under R.C. 9.86 — Court of appeals’ judgment 
affirmed on authority of Johns v. Univ. of Cincinnati Med. Assoc., Inc. — 
State employee has no right to participate in the immunity determination 
proceedings before the Court of Claims or to appeal that determination. 
(Nos. 2002-1815 and 2002-2008 — Submitted March 15, 2004 — Decided April 
14, 2004.) 
APPEAL from and CERTIFIED by the Court of Appeals for Franklin County, Nos. 
02AP-560, 02AP-593, 02AP-597 and 02AP-598. 
__________________ 
{¶1} 
This consolidated appeal came to this court upon (1) this court’s 
acceptance of a discretionary appeal and (2) the certification of the Tenth District 
Court of Appeals that its judgment conflicted with the judgment of the First 
District Court of Appeals in Johns v. Horton, 149 Ohio App.3d 252, 2002-Ohio-
3802, 776 N.E.2d 1146. 
{¶2} 
The Tenth District Court of Appeals certified the following 
question: 
{¶3} 
“Does the employee of a state institution who participates in an 
immunity determination in the Ohio Court of Claims have standing to appeal the 
judgment of the Ohio Court of Claims to the Tenth District Court of Appeals?” 
SUPREME COURT OF OHIO 
2 
{¶4} 
The judgment of the court of appeals is affirmed on the authority 
of Johns v. Univ. of Cincinnati Med. Assoc., Inc., 101 Ohio St.3d 234, 2004-Ohio-
824, 804 N.E.2d 19. 
{¶5} 
The answer to the certified question is: 
{¶6} 
Pursuant to our holding in Johns v. Univ. of Cincinnati Med. 
Assoc., Inc., supra, a state employee has no right to participate in the immunity 
determination proceedings before the Court of Claims or to appeal that 
determination. 
 
MOYER, C.J., RESNICK, F.E. SWEENEY, PFEIFER, LUNDBERG STRATTON, 
O’CONNOR and O’DONNELL, JJ., concur. 
__________________ 
 
James P. Sullivan and Douglas C. Holland, for appellees Keith Theobald 
et al. 
 
Jim Petro, Attorney General, Douglas R. Cole, State Solicitor, Stephen P. 
Carney, Senior Deputy Solicitor, Michael Gladman, Assistant Solicitor, and Karl 
W. Schedler, Assistant Attorney General, for appellee University of Cincinnati. 
 
Reminger & Reminger Co., L.P.A., Michael F. Schmitz, Stephen P. 
O’Keefe, Vincent P. Antaki and Dan M. Newman, for appellants Harsha Sharma 
and Maureen Parrott. 
__________________