Title: State ex rel. Keyes v. Ohio Pub. Emps. Retirement Sys.

State: ohio

Issuer: Ohio Supreme Court

Document:

[Cite as State ex rel. Keyes v. Ohio Pub. Emps. Retirement Sys., 123 Ohio St.3d 29, 2009-Ohio-
4052.] 
 
 
THE STATE EX REL. KEYES ET AL. v. OHIO PUBLIC 
EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT SYSTEM ET AL. 
[Cite as State ex rel. Keyes v. Ohio Pub. Emps. Retirement Sys.,  
123 Ohio St.3d 29, 2009-Ohio-4052.] 
Mandamus — Ohio Adm.Code 145-1-01 — Number of affirmative votes necessary 
to constitute official action when some abstain from voting — “Majority of 
those members present” means majority of members who are present, not 
majority of members who vote. 
(No. 2008-2167 — Submitted August 11, 2009 — Decided August 18, 2009.) 
IN MANDAMUS. 
__________________ 
 
Per Curiam. 
{¶ 1} This is an action for a writ of mandamus to compel the retirement 
board of respondent Ohio Public Employees Retirement System (“PERS”) to 
comply with Ohio Adm.Code 145-1-01 by obtaining the requisite majority vote of 
its members present before taking action on a claim for service credit.  Because 
the board abused its discretion in acting on the administrative appeal relating to 
the service-credit claim without the proper vote to do so, we grant the writ. 
Dental Services Provided by Dr. Ehrbar to DRC 
{¶ 2} Respondent Dr. Diane Ehrbar is a dentist who performed services 
for relator Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (“DRC”) under a 
series of contracts from August 1985 through June 2001.  Dr. Ehrbar provided 
dental services to inmates at the Orient Correctional Institution.  During her 
service with DRC, Dr. Ehrbar asked whether she could become a civil service 
employee and was told that she could not. 
PERS Determination of Dr. Ehrbar’s Request for Service Credit 
SUPREME COURT OF OHIO 
 
2
{¶ 3} After the conclusion of her last contract with DRC, Dr. Ehrbar 
asked PERS for a determination of her eligibility for PERS membership.  
Following an administrative process, PERS determined that she was not a public 
employee when she worked as a dentist at the Orient Correctional Institution from 
1985 to 2001.  PERS concluded that Dr. Ehrbar instead performed dental services 
as an independent contractor for that period.  Dr. Ehrbar appealed the staff 
determination to the PERS retirement board, and the board appointed a hearing 
examiner to consider the appeal. 
{¶ 4} In March 2008, the hearing examiner issued a report and 
recommendation concluding that Dr. Ehrbar was a public employee from July 1, 
1993, to June 30, 2001.  The hearing examiner recommended that Dr. Ehrbar be 
granted PERS service credit for this period. 
{¶ 5} At the board’s September 17, 2008 meeting, ten of the 11 board 
members were present.  Five of the board members voted to adopt the hearing 
examiner’s report and recommendation, three members voted against adoption, 
and two members abstained. 
{¶ 6} By letter dated September 29, 2008, the board informed the parties 
that it had “voted to accept the findings of fact and conclusions of law of the 
March 17, 2008 Report and Recommendation that Dr. Ehrbar was not a public 
employee while performing services for the Department of Rehabilitation and 
Corrections between August 1, 1985 to June 30, 1993, and is not eligible for 
OPERS coverage for this time period, but was a public employee between July 1, 
1993 to June 30, 2001 and is eligible for OPERS coverage for this time period.” 
Mandamus Case 
{¶ 7} On November 7, 2008, relators, DRC and its deputy director of 
human resources, Robert O.E. Keyes, filed this action for a writ of mandamus to 
compel the retirement board of PERS to (1) comply with Ohio Adm.Code 145-1-
01 and obtain a majority vote of its members before taking official action on Dr. 
January Term, 2009 
3 
 
Ehrbar’s claim and (2) find that Dr. Ehrbar was an independent contractor and not 
a public employee of DRC and was not eligible for PERS coverage during her 
employment at Orient Correctional Institution.  PERS filed an answer, and Dr. 
Ehrbar filed a motion to intervene as a respondent along with an answer. 
{¶ 8} We granted the motion to intervene, granted an alternative writ, 
and issued a schedule for the presentation of evidence and briefs. 
{¶ 9} This cause is now before the court for a consideration of the 
merits. 
Mandamus to Correct an Abuse of Discretion by PERS 
{¶ 10} DRC and Keyes request a writ of mandamus to compel the PERS 
retirement board to comply with Ohio Adm.Code 145-1-01 before taking official 
action on Dr. Ehrbar’s service-credit appeal.  “[M]andamus is an appropriate 
remedy where no statutory right of appeal is available to correct an abuse of 
discretion by an administrative body.”  State ex rel. Pipoly v. State Teachers 
Retirement Sys., 95 Ohio St.3d 327, 2002-Ohio-2219, 767 N.E.2d 719, ¶ 14.  
Because there is no statutory right to appeal the retirement board’s decision on 
service credit, mandamus is appropriate.  See State ex rel. Schachter v. Ohio Pub. 
Emps. Retirement Bd., 121 Ohio St.3d 526, 2009-Ohio-1704, 905 N.E.2d 1210, ¶ 
24; R.C. 145.01(A)(4) (“In all cases of doubt, the public employees retirement 
board shall determine whether any person is a public employee, and its decision is 
final”); Ohio Adm.Code 145-1-11(D) (“The retirement board’s decision on any 
determination conducted pursuant to this rule shall be final and determinative”). 
{¶ 11} Therefore, to be entitled to the requested writ of mandamus, DRC 
and Keyes must establish that the PERS retirement board abused its discretion by 
construing the board’s September 2008 vote as representing official board action.  
State ex rel. Davis v. Pub. Emps. Retirement Bd., 120 Ohio St.3d 386, 2008-Ohio-
6254, 899 N.E.2d 975, ¶ 25.  To prove an abuse of discretion, relators must show 
SUPREME COURT OF OHIO 
 
4
that the administrative decision was unreasonable, arbitrary, or unconscionable.  
Schachter, at ¶ 25. 
Ohio Adm.Code 145-1-01(B)(5) 
{¶ 12} The PERS retirement board has 11 members.  R.C. 145.04.  The 
retirement board is vested with the “general administration and management of 
the public employees retirement system.”  R.C. 145.04.  The board “may adopt 
rules in accordance with section 111.15 of the Revised Code for the proper 
administration and management of this chapter.”  R.C. 145.09. 
{¶ 13} One of the rules the board adopted is Ohio Adm.Code 145-1-01, 
which provides: 
{¶ 14} “(B) Meetings 
{¶ 15} “* * * 
{¶ 16} “(5) A majority of the actual number of members that have been 
elected or appointed to and are serving on the board at the time of a meeting 
where official action is to be taken constitutes a quorum to conduct a meeting.  A 
majority of those members present voting yes on a proposal shall constitute a 
favorable vote.  An abstention from voting shall not be counted as either an 
affirmative or negative vote.  A roll call shall occur if there is a division in the 
vote.  Any board member may request a roll call on any vote.”  (Emphasis added.) 
{¶ 17} DRC and Keyes assert that the retirement board abused its 
discretion by ignoring Ohio Adm.Code 145-1-01(B)(5) and treating its September 
2008 vote on Dr. Ehrbar’s appeal as an official board action.  We agree. 
{¶ 18} Because ten of the 11 board members were present at the 
September 2008 meeting, there was a quorum to conduct the meeting.  But only 
five of the ten members present voted yes on the motion to adopt the hearing 
examiner’s report and recommendation.  In construing Ohio Adm.Code 145-1-
01(B)(5), “[w]e must read undefined words and phrases in context and construe 
them in accordance with rules of grammar and common usage.”  State ex rel. 
January Term, 2009 
5 
 
Turner v. Eberlin, 117 Ohio St.3d 381, 2008-Ohio-1117, 884 N.E.2d 39, ¶ 14.  “A 
majority always refers to more than half of some defined or assumed set.”  
Black’s Law Dictionary (8th Ed.2004) 974.  Five is not more than half of ten.  
Therefore, the board’s purported action at the meeting did not comply with the 
plain language of the administrative rule, and the motion to adopt the hearing 
examiner’s report and recommendation was not approved. 
{¶ 19} Furthermore, even if Ohio Adm.Code 145-1-01(B)(5) were 
ambiguous, our conclusion is supported by subsection (B)(7) of the same rule, 
which provides that “[w]hen a question of parliamentary procedure arises, the 
most current edition of ‘Robert’s Rules of Order’ shall be followed unless in 
conflict with Chapter 145. of the Revised Code, or this rule.”  The most current 
edition of Robert’s Rules of Order specifies that “majority” means “more than 
half.”  Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised (10th Ed.2000) 387, Section 44. 
{¶ 20} As noted, Ohio Adm.Code 145-1-01(B)(5) refers to “a majority of 
those members present.”  For the phrase, a “majority of the members present,” 
Robert’s Rules of Order provides the following example: 
{¶ 21} “Assume, for example, that at a meeting of a society with a total 
membership of 150 and a quorum of 10, there are 30 members present, of whom 
25 participate in a given counted vote (taken by rising, by show of hands, by roll 
call, or by ballot).  Then, with respect to that vote: 
{¶ 22} “A majority is 13 
{¶ 23} “A majority of those present is 16.”  Id. at 389-390. 
{¶ 24} In accordance with Robert’s Rules of Order, a majority of the ten 
members present at the retirement board’s September 2008 meeting would be six, 
and because only five members voted to approve the hearing examiner’s report 
and recommendation, the board did not approve it. 
{¶ 25} Moreover, the retirement board erroneously relies on the sentence 
in Ohio Adm.Code 145-1-01(B)(5) that “[a]n abstention from voting shall not be 
SUPREME COURT OF OHIO 
 
6
counted as either an affirmative or negative vote” to support its recognition of the 
September 2008 vote as official action.  The two members who abstained from 
the vote on the motion to approve the hearing examiner’s report and 
recommendation were – in accordance with the rule – not counted as either 
affirmative or negative votes on the motion.  These abstaining members, however, 
remained members present during the vote and had to be counted to determine 
whether the vote was sufficient to constitute a “majority of those members 
present” under the rule.  See also Licht v. Storage Technology Corp. (May 6, 
2005), Del.Ch. No. Civ.A. 524-N, 2005 WL 1252355, * 4, construing Berlin v. 
Emerald Partners (Del.1989), 552 A.2d 482 (“Given that the Supreme Court 
included abstentions among the shares entitled to vote, it is implicit in the 
Supreme Court’s opinion * * * that an abstention, whether accomplished in 
person or through a proxy holder following his principal’s instructions, is part of 
the ‘voting power present’ ”). 
{¶ 26} Moreover, the retirement board’s construction of the rule would 
add language to read either:  “A majority of those members present voting yes on 
a proposal shall constitute a favorable vote.  An abstention from voting shall not 
be counted as either an affirmative or negative vote, and a member who abstains 
shall not be counted as a member present to determine whether a majority needed 
for a favorable vote has been reached” or “A majority of those members present 
and voting shall constitute the required majority for board action.”  (Emphasis 
added.)  We cannot add or delete words in construing the pertinent language of 
the administrative rule.  Cf. State ex rel. Sapp v. Franklin Cty. Court of Appeals, 
118 Ohio St.3d 368, 2008-Ohio-2637, 889 N.E.2d 500, ¶ 26 (applying this 
interpretative rule in construing a statute).  The phrase “a majority of those 
members present and voting” has a markedly different meaning from “a majority 
of those members present.”  See generally Annotation, Abstention from Voting of 
January Term, 2009 
7 
 
Member of Municipal Council Present at Session as Affecting Requisite Voting 
Majority (1975), 63 A.L.R.3d 1072, Section 6[a], 1975 WL 37107. 
{¶ 27} In addition, the retirement board may remedy purported policy 
problems with the rule by amending it instead of requesting that this court do so 
by ignoring the rule’s plain language. 
{¶ 28} Finally, although we accord the retirement board deference in 
interpreting its administrative rules, State ex rel. Schaengold v. Ohio Pub. Emps. 
Retirement Sys., 114 Ohio St.3d 147, 2007-Ohio-3760, 870 N.E.2d 719, ¶ 23, we 
need not do so here because the board’s interpretation of Ohio Adm.Code 145-1-
01(B)(5) is unreasonable.  See Univ. of Toledo v. Heiny (1987), 30 Ohio St.3d 
143, 146, 30 OBR 454, 507 N.E.2d 1130. 
Remaining Claim 
{¶ 29} DRC and Keyes next claim that the PERS retirement board abused 
its discretion in determining that Dr. Ehrbar was a public employee entitled to 
service credit for the period from July 1, 1993, to June 30, 2001.  This claim is 
moot, however, because of our resolution of relators’ first claim.  We cannot 
review the merits of the retirement board’s purported action, because the action 
was not an official action under Ohio Adm.Code 145-1-01(B)(5), i.e., the board 
did not adopt the hearing examiner’s report and recommendation.  This result is 
consistent with our well-settled precedent that we will not indulge in advisory 
opinions.  Davis, 120 Ohio St.3d 386, 2008-Ohio-6254, 899 N.E.2d 975, ¶ 43. 
Conclusion 
{¶ 30} Therefore, because the PERS retirement board abused its 
discretion by treating its September 2008 vote on Dr. Ehrbar’s service-credit 
appeal as an official action by the requisite number of members of the board, we 
grant a writ of mandamus to compel the PERS to comply with Ohio Adm.Code 
145-1-01 by obtaining a majority vote of the members present before taking 
official action on the appeal. 
SUPREME COURT OF OHIO 
 
8
Writ granted. 
 
MOYER, 
C.J., 
and 
PFEIFER, 
LUNDBERG 
STRATTON, 
O’CONNOR, 
O’DONNELL, LANZINGER, and CUPP, JJ., concur. 
__________________ 
 
Chester, Willcox & Saxbe, L.L.P., Sarah D. Morrison, and Donald C. 
Brey, for relators. 
 
Richard Cordray, Attorney General, and John T. Williams and Laura E. 
Parsons, Assistant Attorneys General, for respondent Ohio Public Employees 
Retirement System. 
 
Christensen, Christensen, Donchatz, Kettlewell & Owens, L.L.P., and 
Timothy J. Owens, for respondent Dr. Diane Ehrbar. 
______________________