State ex rel. Scott v. Streetsboro (Slip Opinion), 150 Ohio St. 3d 1

Background

In May 2009 Streetsboro's mayor resigned; council appointed Councilmember Arthur F. Scott as acting mayor. At a public meeting Scott stated he would serve as acting mayor for his council salary ($3,600/yr) and the council passed a resolution setting his pay at that rate; Scott signed it.
In November 2009 Scott was elected to serve the remainder of the term and was paid the prior mayor's salary ($74,328/yr); he lost reelection in 2011.
In September 2012 Scott petitioned for a writ of mandamus claiming (1) unpaid compensation for unused vacation, sick, and personal leave; (2) underpayment for his elected-mayor salary (including one final day); and (3) underpayment for service as acting mayor.
The court of appeals granted summary judgment to Streetsboro on all claims except entitlement to pay for Scott's last day in office; Scott appealed to the Ohio Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court affirmed the grant of summary judgment as to mayoral and acting-mayor salary claims, reversed as to unused-leave claims, denied oral argument, and found no abuse of discretion in the court of appeals’ effective denial of Scott's motion to strike late-produced discovery.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Entitlement to compensation for unused vacation, sick, and personal leave	Scott: Charter entitles mayor to "salary with benefits" and his paystubs show accrued leave; handbook does not control; he should be paid for unused leave	Streetsboro: Employee handbook controls and limits accrual/forfeiture; elected officials not entitled to sick leave per handbook	Genuine issues of material fact exist about whether charter or handbook governs and whether Scott accrued leave; reversed summary judgment and remanded for evidentiary hearing
Salary as elected mayor (including final day)	Scott: Charter formula would make mayoral pay higher (1% above highest dept. head); he was underpaid (claimed $80,800 vs $74,328)	Streetsboro: Scott was elected to complete an existing four-year term; charter bars changing mayoral pay after start of term; prior mayor's salary controls	Affirmed summary judgment for Streetsboro — no duty to reset salary mid-term under charter
Salary as acting mayor	Scott: Acting mayor should be paid mayoral rate or otherwise entitled to higher pay	Streetsboro: Charter silent on acting mayor pay; Scott publicly agreed to serve at council salary and signed resolution so he waived claim	Affirmed summary judgment for Streetsboro — waiver and no clear legal right to higher pay
Motion to strike late-produced discovery / request for oral argument	Scott: City produced key documents after discovery deadline; court should have struck them and excluded reliance	Streetsboro: Documents were public records discovered while drafting response; used promptly; court discretion on sanctions	No abuse of discretion in court of appeals effectively denying motion to strike; oral argument denied as discretionary and unnecessary

Key Cases Cited

State ex rel. Manley v. Walsh, 142 Ohio St.3d 384 (2014) (factors for granting oral argument and appellate discretion)
Appenzeller v. Miller, 136 Ohio St.3d 378 (2013) (appellate practice regarding oral argument and issues of importance)
Toney v. Berkemer, 6 Ohio St.3d 455 (1983) (abuse-of-discretion standard for discovery rulings)
Ward v. Hester, 36 Ohio St.2d 38 (1974) (sanction of excluding evidence for failure to produce discovery)
Huffman v. Hair Surgeon, Inc., 19 Ohio St.3d 83 (1985) (prejudice controls sanctions for discovery failures)
Nakoff v. Fairview Gen. Hosp., 75 Ohio St.3d 254 (1996) (preference to decide cases on merits using reliable evidence)
State ex rel. Waters v. Spaeth, 131 Ohio St.3d 55 (2012) (elements and burden for mandamus)
State ex rel. Mun. Constr. Equip. Operators’ Labor Council v. Cleveland, 141 Ohio St.3d 113 (2014) (standard of review for mandamus denials)
State ex rel. Cassels v. Dayton City School Dist. Bd. of Edn., 69 Ohio St.3d 217 (1994) (assumption that an unrulled motion is overruled)