Court Opinion

ID: 9476556
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 05:58:39.207489+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:45:22.767833
License: Public Domain

MILBURN, Circuit Judge,
dissenting.
The primary issue confronting the court involves the interpretation of Ohio Rev. Code § 2743.02(A) with regard to whether the plaintiff-appellant under the circumstances here involved waived her federal claims against the defendant employees of the State of Ohio. In my opinion, we need not reach under the present circumstances the issue of whether the statute constitutes an impermissible limitation on federal jurisdiction. Since the majority opinion does not set out the statute in full, it is set out here:
(A)(1) The State hereby waives its immunity from liability and consents to be sued, and have its liability determined, in the court of claims created in this chapter in accordance with the same rules of law applicable to suits between private parties, except that the determination of liability is subject to the limitations set forth in this chapter and except as provided in division (A)(2) of this section. To the extent that the state has previously consented to be sued, this chapter has no applicability.
Except in the case of a civil action filed by the state, filing a civil action in the court of claims results in a complete waiver of any cause of action, based on the same act or omission, which the filing party has against any state officer or employee. The waiver shall be void if the court determines that the act or omission was manifestly outside the scope of the officer’s or employee’s office or employment or that the officer or employee acted with malicious purpose, in bad faith, or in a wanton or reckless manner.
In my view, resolution of the present dispute turns on whether the court of claims made a finding as to whether the individual defendants acted “manifestly outside the scope of ... employment” or “with malicious purpose, in bad faith, or in a wanton or reckless manner.” It is true, as the majority points out, that the court of claims determined that the termination of Ms. Leaman’s employment “was in accordance with the law.” However, it is clear that the court of claims focused upon the fact that Ms. Leaman was a probationary employee, and thus had no property interest in her continued employment.
The court of claims went on to note that Ms. Leaman had filed a section 1983 action in federal court. It made no finding on the issue of whether the individual employees acted outside the scope of employment. The language used by the court of claims judge in dismissing Ms. Leaman’s action was: “The issues of the rights of a '1983' action apparently are being determined in *971federal court. This court has difficulty understanding why the case is pending in the Court of Claims involving the same issues and the same party, namely the State of Ohio.”
In an analogous context, Ohio courts considering the proper course of action when simultaneous suits are filed in the court of claims and the state court of general jurisdiction, have concluded that the action against the individual employees cannot be dismissed until the court of claims makes a finding regarding the scope of employment. See, e.g., McIntosh v. University of Cincinnati, 24 Ohio App.3d 116, 493 N.E.2d 321 (1985); Von Hoene v. Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, 20 Ohio App.3d 363, 486 N.E.2d 868, 872 (1985); Smith v. Stempel, 65 Ohio App.2d 36, 414 N.E.2d 445, 449 (1979). Given the absence of such a finding in the present case, the action against the individual employees should be allowed to proceed.
The majority opinion effectively denies Ms. Leaman the opportunity to have her claims against the individual defendants considered in any forum. In my view, such a result is not contemplated by the statute as it has been construed by the Ohio courts and is manifestly unfair. Accordingly, I respectfully dissent.