Ohio Court Denies Temporary Restraining Order to Halt Return to In-Person Instruction
Earlier this month, a judge in Hamilton County sided with the Board of Education of the Cincinnati Public School District (“Board”) when she denied the Cincinnati Federation of Teachers’ (“Union”) motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction...
Can schools discipline students for offensive social media posts? The U.S. Supreme Court will decide in B.L. v. Mahanoy Area School District
Written by: Liz Hudson The U.S. Supreme Court recently agreed to hear a First Amendment case about student social media use related to extracurricular activities. In June, 2020, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s ruling in favor of a student...
Ennis Britton Proudly Welcomes Kyle Wheeler
Ennis Britton is delighted to announce that Kyle Wheeler, Esq., has joined the law firm. In addition to practicing in all areas of school law, Kyle joins the Special Education and Construction and Real Estate Practice Groups of Ennis Britton. Kyle is not new to...
Ohio Court Upholds Picketing at Homes and Places of Employment of Public Officials
The Ohio Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Appellate District recently addressed a dispute between the Portage County Educators Association for Developmental Disabilities-Unit B, OEA/NEA and the Portage County Board of Developmental Disabilities. During a labor...
Decision in Favor of School District Against a Requester of Records
Bollinger v. River Valley Local School Dist., 2020-Ohio-6637 A Special Master of the Court of Claims of Ohio has issued a decision in favor of a school district against a requester of records. The requester was a former employee who was terminated after a...
Court of Appeals: Terminated Teacher Cannot use Mandamus to Overcome a Failure to File an Administrative Appeal
The Third District Court of Appeals of Ohio has affirmed the decision of a trial court granting summary judgment in favor of a board of education against a teacher seeking reinstatement through a mandamus action. Click here to see the case. The teacher was in the...
Tenth District Court of Appeals Rules that Employee’s Good Faith Reason for Rejecting Light Duty Offer does not Preclude Termination of Temporary Total Disability Benefits
Temporary total disability (TTD) is a wage replacement benefit provided by the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) to employees who are temporarily unable to perform the duties of their job due to a work place injury that has been recognized (“allowed”) by BWC. TTD...
Ohio Supreme Court Affirms Decision That The Ohio Student Privacy Act Forbids Release of Student Records of Deceased Student
In January 2020, we reported to you that the Second Appellate District Court in Ohio ruled that the death of a student does not remove the legal protections of the confidentiality of student records. Find more details from the January 2020 report here. State ex. rel...
Connect with EB at Capital Conference! #OSBACC
The pandemic has presented many challenges for all of us this year, including that we will not have the opportunity to gather in person for the Ohio School Board Association’s Capital Conference. In spite of these challenges, the conference will still give us all...
Prepare for Increased Property Valuation Challenges
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted our lives and businesses in ways we never envisioned. The real estate market has certainly not been spared. Office space, hotels, restaurants and retail establishments have been particularly hard hit. Demand for office space is...
New Federal Guidance from OSEP: a COVID-19 Q&A
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) published a new COVID-19 Q&A on September 28, 2020 (OSEP QA 20-01). While OSEP explicitly cautions that the Q&A “is intended only to provide clarity to the public regarding existing...
FFCRA leave guidance changes now effective
DoL issues new rule interpreting FFCRA leave provisions, including intermittent leave and notice of leave.
Injunction Seeking to Prevent Implementation of Title IX Regulations Denied
The U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York recently denied a request for a preliminary injunction to prevent new Title IX regulations from becoming effective on August 14, 2020. In general, Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in...
Court Denies Unemployment Benefits to Striking Employees
In somewhat of a novelty decision, the Fifth District Court of Appeals of Ohio has upheld a trial court decision affirming the denial of unemployment benefits to 51 non-teaching employees who went on strike after OAPSE and the Board of Education were unable to reach...
Constitutional Right to a Basic Minimum Education
Does a Constitutional right to a basic minimum education exist? The question has been repeatedly discussed by the Supreme Court of the United States but never decided. For states under the jurisdiction of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, including Ohio, Michigan,...
Schwendeman v. Marietta City Schools
The United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio recently ruled in favor of a school district when an employee brought disability discrimination and retaliation claims after he was terminated for working for the local police department while being...
U.S. Supreme Court: Title VII Prohibits Termination Based on Sexual Orientation
On June 15, 2020, in the consolidated matters of Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia, Altitude Express v. Zarda, and R.G.& G.R. Harris Funeral Homes v. EEOC, et al, the United States Supreme Court ruled in a 6-3 decision that an employer who fires an individual...
Tenth Appellate District: Workers’ Compensation
Workers’ Compensation practitioners and school benefits employees alike know that temporary total disability, and particularly the concept of voluntary abandonment of employment, are difficult areas of Workers’ Compensation law in Ohio. The Tenth Appellate District...
UPDATE: Sixth Circuit Finds a Constitutional Right to a Basic Minimum Education
On May 6, 2020, we reported to you that a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued a decision holding that there is a fundamental right to a “basic minimum education” that is potentially violated when the state fails to provide adequate public...
Ensuring Graduation Ceremonies Are Accessible to All Viewers
In light of ongoing bans on mass gatherings, many school districts are moving to a graduation ceremony plan that involves a video or other online elements (e.g. video, PowerPoint, etc.). While virtual commencements may be almost unheard of prior to this spring, there...
Ohio Supreme Court Upholds School District Takeover Law
On May 13, 2020, the Ohio Supreme Court upheld House Bill (HB) 70, which was passed in 2015 by the 131st General Assembly. HB 70 is a school takeover bill that gave sweeping powers to an appointed CEO in districts that struggled to meet overall state report card...