State Ex Rel. Tempesta v. City of Warren, 128 Ohio St. 3d 463

Tempesta, the City of Warren’s Director of Service Operations (top classification in his series), was laid off July 26, 2009 due to funding shortfalls.
R.C. 124.327(B) grants laid-off public employees one year of reinstatement rights; during that year, the city must offer positions within the same classification before hiring others.
Around mid-2010, a vacancy for operations superintendent (same classification series) arose, and Calvey was appointed on July 1, 2010.
Tempesta sought mandamus to reinstate him to operations superintendent; the city argued the collective-bargaining agreement preempted statutory reinstatement rights.
The trial court granted reinstatement but denied back pay; the majority held reinstatement entitlement existed, but back pay requires proof with certainty.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Does Tempesta have a clear right to reinstatement to operations superintendent under statute?	Tempesta has reinstatement rights under R.C. 124.327(B).	City argues contract provisions preempt statutory rights.	Tempesta has a statutory right to reinstatement.
Does the collective-bargaining agreement preempt Tempesta’s statutory reinstatement rights?	Article 21 does not explicitly negate statutory reinstatement rights.	Contract language preempts statutory rights when sufficiently explicit.	No preemption; statute remains operative.
Is Tempesta entitled to mandamus based on lack of adequate remedy in law?	Grievance/arbitration does not cover his statutory claim as non-unit employee.	Grievance/arbitration typically precludes mandamus.	Yes, adequate remedy in the ordinary course is lacking.
Should Tempesta receive back pay after reinstatement?	Back pay requested in the mandamus action.	Back pay requires proof of amount with certainty; not demonstrated.	Back pay denied for lack of certainty.

State ex rel. Carnail v. McCormick, 126 Ohio St.3d 124 (2010) (mandamus elements; statutory rights govern reinstatement)
State ex rel. Batavia Local School Dist. Bd. of Edn. v. Ohio, 89 Ohio St.3d 191 (2000) (preemption requires explicit contractual language)
State ex rel. Couch v. Trimble Local School Dist. Bd. of Edn., 120 Ohio St.3d 75 (2008) (preemption analysis for collective bargaining agreements)
State ex rel. McClaran v. Ontario, 119 Ohio St.3d 105 (2008) (adequacy of remedy; mandamus standard)
State ex rel. Stacy v. Batavia Local School Dist. Bd. of Edn., 105 Ohio St.3d 476 (2005) (back pay; certainty of amount)