Baker v. R/A Cab Co.

2019 Ohio 4375
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedOctober 25, 2019
DocketL-19-1031
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 2019 Ohio 4375 (Baker v. R/A Cab Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Baker v. R/A Cab Co., 2019 Ohio 4375 (Ohio Ct. App. 2019).

Opinion

[Cite as Baker v. R/A Cab Co., 2019-Ohio-4375.]

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO SIXTH APPELLATE DISTRICT LUCAS COUNTY

William M. Baker, Jr. Court of Appeals No. L-19-1031

Appellant Trial Court No. CVI-18-18709

v.

R/A Cab Co. DECISION AND JUDGMENT

Appellee Decided: October 25, 2019

*****

William M. Baker, Jr., pro se.

MAYLE, P.J.

{¶ 1} The plaintiff-appellant, William M. Baker, Jr., appeals a January 23, 2019

judgment of the Toledo Municipal Court, Small Claims Division, that adopted a

magistrate decision and ruled against Baker in his breach of contract claim against the

defendant-appellee, R/A Cab Co. As set forth below, we affirm the lower court’s

judgment. Facts and Procedural History

{¶ 2} Baker applied for a job at R/A Cab Co. (hereinafter “the Company”) in

March of 2017 to work as a cab driver. According to the complaint, the Company’s

owner, Robert Bethany, told Baker that Baker would have to “to pay for [a] record check,

drug testing, and all other licensure requirement[s] * * * to be employed.” Baker claims

he completed all of the pre-employment tasks, and despite his compliance, Bethany

“made excuses and never put [him] to work,” in violation of the Company’s promise.

Baker filed a complaint in small claims court on October 22, 2018, seeking $169 in

damages and $5,000 in lost wages. The case was referred to a magistrate judge, and a

hearing was held on November 26, 2018.

{¶ 3} At the hearing, Bethany testified that the Company holds many contracts

with governmental agencies that require it to use drivers who have met certain

qualifications. Consistent with those requirements, Bethany gave Baker a list of items at

the time of application that Baker was required to furnish. That list, which was admitted

at trial, provides as follows:

REQUIREMENTS FOR EMPLOYMENT WITH R/A CAB

INSURANCE CHECK: 615 KINGSBURY RD. $7

DRUG TESTING: 3028 NAVARRE (CARE CONSULTANTS) $43

FBI BACKGROUND CHECK: GOVERNMENT CENTER $39

CPR/FIRST AIDE: 5650 W. CENTRAL AVENUE (CARE 4 YOU 2) $40

*TAXI LICENSE: GOVERNMENT CENTER $25 * * *

2. {¶ 4} The dispute in this case is whether Baker satisfied the CPR/first aid and the

criminal background requirements.

{¶ 5} According to the record, Baker presented a CPR card to the Company

indicating that he became certified in CPR on “1/14/17” and that the certification

remained in effect until “01/2017.” The parties agree that the reference to “1/2017” was

likely a misprint. Baker claims that the Company’s former office manager told him that

the card would suffice. Bethany, however, testified that the Company “couldn’t accept”

the card because it was “expiring,” and he instructed Baker to “come back with a new

one, with the right date on it.” Baker did not provide the Company with a corrected card.

{¶ 6} With regard to his criminal background check, Baker provided the Company

with an October 11, 2016 letter from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations (“the

BCI letter”) to his previous employer. The letter states that the Federal Bureau of

Investigations (“FBI”) had conducted a criminal background check and, based upon its

investigation, Baker “MAY NOT MEET qualifications for licensing or employment.”

(Emphasis in original.) The letter continues that further information would be made

available to Baker, himself, upon the submission of an “FBI Request for Rapsheet form.”

Bethany testified that he instructed Baker to “[go] back” to the FBI and find out why he

“was denied.” Had Baker done so, the Company could have presented the details of

Baker’s criminal history to its “client” for a determination as to whether Baker was an

acceptable candidate. According to the testimony at the hearing, Baker did not provide

the Company with any additional information relative to his criminal background,

3. including the rapsheet form. Bethany testified that he “kept telling” Baker to “[take] care

of” those two issues, and Baker’s failure to do so are the reasons “why he doesn’t have a

job.”

{¶ 7} At trial, Baker asserted that the paperwork at issue was accepted by his

previous employers, both cab companies. He claimed that the same paperwork was, in

fact, also accepted by the Company or should have been. Baker alleged that the

Company used faulty paperwork as an excuse not to hire him. He speculated, but

produced no evidence to support his claim, that he was not hired because: (1) his

previous employer complained to Bethany about damage Baker caused to one of its cabs;

(2) the Company lacked sufficient working vehicles; (3) increased competition from Uber

and Lyft; and (4) the Company preferred to hire female drivers.1

{¶ 8} In its decision, the magistrate found that Baker “did not meet the

requirements for employment” and that the Company did not agree “to pay for the cost of

completing [those] requirements.” Pursuant to Civ.R. 53(E), Baker filed written

objections to the decision. In support, Baker submitted “new evidence,” including a letter

from the Perrysburg Fire Department, dated after the magistrate decision, indicating that

Baker’s CPR certification was effective for two years from the date of certification.

Baker also included a computer print-out, indicating that Baker was convicted of rape, in

1 At trial, the magistrate advised Baker that, to the extent that he was claiming gender- bias, the court did not have jurisdiction to consider his claim. Baker did not object to the court’s finding or raise the issue on appeal.

4. violation of R.C. 2907.02, a first-degree felony, in 1984, for which he served two years in

prison. On January 23, 2019, the trial court denied Baker’s objections and adopted the

magistrate’s decision. Baker appealed. The Company did not file an appellate brief.

Baker’s Assignments of Error

{¶ 9} Baker asserts seven assignments of error for this court’s review. The

assignments occupy five, single-spaced pages and are, at times, wandering and difficult

to follow. Therefore, we have summarized them, as set forth below, and they are

included, verbatim, as Appendix A.

Assignment of Error No. 1: The trial court erred in referring to

Ohio’s employment “at will” doctrine because Baker was “never hired” but

rather “promised future employment.”

Assignment of Error No. 2: The trial court erred when it

determined that Baker “didn’t meet the requirements for employment”

because Baker provided the Company with his “criminal rap sheet * * * at

the time of [his] application” for employment and because the CPR card,

with its “mere typographical error * * * was not a basis for not putting

[Baker] to work.”

Assignment of Error No. 3: The trial court erred when it found that

the BCI letter disqualified him from employment.

Assignment of Error No. 4: The trial court erred when it found that

Baker was required to complete all of the “boilerplate list of requirements”

5. when, in fact, the Company only “requested [that he] complete the drug

test,” which he did.

Assignment of Error No. 5: The trial court erred by failing to find

that the Company “accepted the documents presented by [Baker]” and by

failing to find that the Company breached its contract with Baker.

Assignment of Error No. 6: The trial court erred in finding that the

Company “requested” that Baker “clear up matters” relative to his

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2019 Ohio 4375, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/baker-v-ra-cab-co-ohioctapp-2019.