EAP Ohio, L.L.C. v. Wild 'N Wooly Acres, Inc.

2024 Ohio 5906
Ohio Court of Appeals·Decided December 13, 2024·No. 24 HA 0004·Published

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO SEVENTH APPELLATE DISTRICT HARRISON COUNTY

EAP OHIO, LLC,

Plaintiff-Appellee,

v.

WILD 'N WOOLY ACRES, INC., Defendant-Appellant.

OPINION AND JUDGMENT ENTRY Case No. 24 HA 0004

Civil Appeal from the

Court of Common Pleas of Harrison County, Ohio Case No. CVH 2023-0121

BEFORE:

Cheryl L. Waite, Carol Ann Robb, Mark A. Hanni, Judges.

JUDGMENT:

Affirmed.

Atty. Timothy B. McGranor, Atty. Mitchell A. Tobias, and Atty. Eric A. Parker, Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP, for Plaintiff-Appellee

Atty. Molly K. Johnson, Johnson & Johnson Law Firm, for Defendant-Appellant Dated: December 13, 2024

WAITE, J.

{¶1} This appeal challenges the confirmation of an arbitration award. Appellant Wild 'N Wooly Acres, Inc. argues that the trial court should not have confirmed the arbitration award because Appellee's application for confirmation was not served on Appellant's counsel. Appellant did not raise this matter with the trial court, and therefore, it is waived on appeal. In addition, R.C. 2711.09 does not require the application for confirmation to be served on counsel, but allows notice to be given to either "the adverse party" or "his attorney." Appellant is a corporation and Appellee served notice on Appellant's statutory agent as required by law.

{¶2} Appellant also contends that the Rules of Civil Procedure regarding service of notice should have been followed, rather than the notice and service requirements in R.C. 2711.09. This is incorrect, because an express statutory provision takes precedence over the Rules of Civil Procedure under the facts of this case. This is the same reasoning used in the very recent case of Ohio Patrolmen’s Benevolent Assn. v. Cleveland, 2024- Ohio-2651, dealing with a similar question arising out of R.C. 2711.13. The case held that service may be made on either counsel or the opposing party because the express provisions of a special statutory proceeding such as arbitration must be followed, despite a contradictory provision of the Rules of Civil Procedure.

{¶3} It is clear that the holding in Ohio Patrolmen’s Benevolent Assn. resolves Appellant’s arguments under its sole assignment of error. Appellant's assignment of error is overruled and the judgment of the trial court is affirmed.

Facts and Procedural History

{¶4} On December 15, 2022, a final arbitration award was granted in favor of Appellee EAP Ohio, LLC and against Appellant. On October 16, 2023, Appellee filed a timely application for confirmation of the arbitration award in the Harrison County Court of Common Pleas pursuant to R.C. 2711.09. On October 17, 2023, the Harrison County Clerk of Courts served the application and a summons on Appellant's statutory agent via certified mail. It was received by the statutory agent on October 20, 2023, as evidenced by the certificate of service card.

{¶5} On November 17, 2023, Appellant, now represented by counsel in this matter, filed a motion for leave to respond to the application. An extension was granted until December 27, 2023. Appellant did not file a response until January 5, 2024, when it filed an answer and brief in opposition.

{¶6} On January 11, 2024, Appellee filed a motion to strike Appellant's answer, or in the alternative, a memorandum in opposition, as Appellee interpreted Appellant’s response as a motion to vacate the arbitration award.

{¶7} A hearing was held on February 15, 2024. On February 20, 2024, Appellant filed a motion for leave to file instanter a first amended answer and motion to vacate. The trial court did not grant this motion. Instead, on March 22, 2024, the trial court granted Appellee's motion to strike Appellant's answer and granted Appellee's application to confirm the arbitration award. This appeal followed on April 22, 2024.

{¶8} Appellant filed a brief on June 24, 2024 raising one assignment of error.

Appellee responded to that brief on July 15, 2024. The parties then submitted a joint motion to submit supplemental briefs in light of the Ohio Supreme Court’s decision in Ohio

Patrolmen’s Benevolent Assn. v. Cleveland, 2024-Ohio-2651, decided on July 16, 2024. Both parties agreed that the case would likely have an impact on this appeal. We granted the motion on August 1, 2024.

{¶9} On August 2, 2024, Appellant filed a supplemental brief. However, in it Appellant abandoned its original assignment of error in favor of two completely new assignments. Appellee filed a response on August 7, 2024. Appellee objected to Appellant’s rejection of its original argument and to the presentation of two completely new assignments of error. Appellee argued that Appellant’s original assignment of error was overruled by the holding in Ohio Patrolmen’s Benevolent Assn., and argued that Appellant waived any additional assignments of error by failing to include them in the original brief. Nevertheless, Appellee addressed the new legal theories raised in Appellant’s supplemental brief. Appellee is correct that we did not grant Appellant permission to completely change or abandon its legal theory in this case. Our August 1, 2024 entry merely allowed the parties to supplement their original argument to address the impact of Ohio Patrolmen’s Benevolent Assn. In effect, Appellant seems to have waived its original argument in this appeal, and attempted to improperly replace it with two new arguments.

{¶10} We note that Appellant set forth its original assignment of error in three different ways in its opening brief. As there is no way for us to determine which version Appellant intended us to address, the version quoted below is the one found in the table of contents in Appellant’s brief.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR

THE TRIAL COURT ERRED BY NOT DISMISSING EAP OHIO’S APPLICATION FOR CONFIRMATION DESPITE EAP OHIO’S FAILURE TO SERVE UNDERSIGNED COUNSEL.

SUPPLEMENTAL ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NO. 1

THE TRIAL COURT LACKED JURISDICTION TO RULE UPON EAP’S APPLICATION FOR CONFIRMATION OF AWARD IN ARBITRATION BECAUSE EAP FAILED TO SERVE COUNSEL FOR WNW AS REQUIRED BY O.R.C. 2711.05 AND CIV.R. 5 WITHIN THE ONE-YEAR STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS PRESCRIBED BY 2711.09.

SUPPLEMENTAL ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NO. 2

THE TRIAL COURT LACKED JURISDICTION TO RULE UPON EAP’S APPLICATION FOR CONFIRMATION OF AWARD IN ARBITRATION BECAUSE EAP FAILED TO FILE A MOTION IN CONFORMANCE WITH OHIO CIV.R. 7 AND THEREFORE, DID NOT TIMELY COMPLY WITH R.C.

2711.05 OR 2711.09.

{¶11} This appeal involves a challenge to the confirmation of an arbitration award by the court of common pleas. As the challenge is on purely procedural grounds, this appeal raises a question of statutory interpretation. When interpreting statutory provisions, the goal is to give effect to the legislature's intent in enacting the statute, and

this is generally found by reading the statutory language in context and interpreting it according to the rules of grammar and common usage. Gabbard v. Madison Local School Dist. Bd. of Edn., 2021-Ohio-2067, ¶ 13. Interpretation should be done to avoid adding or deleting anything from the statutory language. Id. Appellant argues in this matter that an application for confirmation of an arbitration award must be served upon the opposing party’s attorney if that party is represented by counsel, despite language to the contrary in R.C. 2711.09. Appellant cites R.C. 2711.05-13, Civ.R. 5, and four cases to support this argument.

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EAP Ohio, L.L.C. v. Wild 'N Wooly Acres, Inc., 2024 Ohio 5906 (Ohio Ct. App. 2024).

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