State ex rel. Fisher v. City of Cleveland

109 Ohio St. 3d 33
CourtOhio Supreme Court
DecidedApril 26, 2006
DocketNo. 2004-1726
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 109 Ohio St. 3d 33 (State ex rel. Fisher v. City of Cleveland) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State ex rel. Fisher v. City of Cleveland, 109 Ohio St. 3d 33 (Ohio 2006).

Opinion

O’Connor, J.

{¶ 1} We are asked to consider whether a municipality, in enforcing its residency requirement for municipal employees, may require that an employee undergoing a residency investigation submit a copy of the employee’s income tax returns. We hold that such a request, as part of an informal document request, constitutes an invasion of privacy and is therefore barred.

I. Facts and Procedural History

{¶ 2} Plaintiffs-appellees Robert Fisher and the Association of Cleveland Fire Fighters, Local 93 of the International Association of Fire Fighters (“relators”) initiated this action by filing a statutory taxpayer complaint, pursuant to R.C. 733.59, against the city of Cleveland and the Cleveland Civil Service Commission (collectively, “city appellants”). Relators alleged that the city appellants were violating the right of privacy, as protected by Ohio and federal law, of all full-time firefighter employees of Cleveland by requiring the employees to submit income tax returns as an initial part of residency investigations.1

{¶ 3} The pertinent facts follow: The Cleveland Charter requires that a municipal employee be a “bona fide” resident of Cleveland and remain so while employed. Cleveland City Charter Section 74(a). The charter and R.C. Chapter 119 authorize the Cleveland Civil Service Commission to establish rules enforcing the residency requirements and other employment-related conditions. See Cleveland City Charter Section 127 and R.C. 119.02 and 119.03.

{¶ 4} Ever since the residency requirement has been in effect, Cleveland has directed municipal employees to prove their “bona fide” residency in Cleveland. In addition, certain employees are selected for investigation as the result of anonymous tips and other information. As an initial part of a residency investigation, employees receive a document request, which requires employees to [35]*35submit completed 1040 tax returns as “actually filed with Federal, State and Local Income Tax agencies.” (Emphasis sic.)

{¶ 5} If the employees do not submit their tax returns, their cases may be referred to a civil-service-commission referee before whom the employees must prove city residency by a preponderance of the evidence. If the commission is satisfied with the documentation provided, no further proceedings are instituted.

{¶ 6} The city appellants seek the tax returns, arguing that the returns are verified under penalty of law and are thus of great probative weight. The returns also may contain information about rental income, secondary residences, secondary employment, mortgage deductions, and property taxes.

{¶ 7} The trial court entered summary judgment in favor of relators and enjoined the city appellants from requesting the tax returns. Pursuant to R.C. 733.61, it also awarded relators attorney fees because they were successful in their action.

{¶ 8} The city appellants appealed on four primary bases. First, they argued that relators did not have standing to pursue the action, as the matter did not concern a public right or benefit. Second, they asserted that they were entitled to the tax returns, as no abuse of the municipal corporate power occurred. Third, they argued that the administrative-subpoena standard should apply, under which relators are required to prove that the requirement for submitting tax returns was unreasonable. Finally, they claimed that the award of attorney fees pursuant to R.C. 733.61 was improper because relators did not post “security for costs,” pursuant to R.C. 733.59, at the time of filing the action.

{¶ 9} The Eighth District Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court on every issue. This cause is now before us pursuant to our acceptance of the city appellants’ discretionary appeal.

II. Analysis

A. Is This Properly a Taxpayer Action?

{¶ 10} As a threshold matter, the city appellants contend that they are entitled to judgment because relators have not properly brought a taxpayer action and therefore have no standing on which to bring their claims. A taxpayer action is properly brought only when the right under review in the action is one benefiting the public. See State ex rel. White v. Cleveland (1973), 34 Ohio St.2d 37, 63 O.O.2d 79, 295 N.E.2d 665, paragraph one of the syllabus; State ex rel. Caspar v. Dayton (1990), 53 Ohio St.3d 16, 20, 558 N.E.2d 49.

{¶ 11} A jurisdictional analysis of a statutory taxpayer action begins with R.C. 733.56, which requires a city law director to apply in the city’s name “to a court of competent jurisdiction for an order of injunction to restrain * * * the abuse of its [36]*36corporate powers.” R.C. 733.59 allows a taxpayer to institute suit in his own name on behalf of the municipal corporation if the law director fails to comply with R.C. 733.56 but prohibits a taxpayer action “until the taxpayer gives security for the cost of the proceeding.”

{¶ 12} As established in White and discussed in Caspar, for a taxpayer to maintain an action under R.C. 733.59, the “aim must be to enforce a public right, regardless of any personal or private motive or advantage.” Caspar, 53 Ohio St.3d at 20, 558 N.E.2d 49.

{¶ 13} The city appellants argue that the facts of the instant case are closely allied with those of Caspar, in which several Dayton police officers sought redress under a taxpayer action for the denial of certain fringe benefits. This court held that an action seeking to compel fringe benefits for the relators’ personal benefit does not represent a public aim, nor is it seeking to enforce a public right. Id.

{¶ 14} Here, however, we reach a different result from that in Caspar and conclude that although the tax records are sought within the employment relationship, the rights to the records and implications thereof do affect a public right.

{¶ 15} First and foremost, the records are being sought for the enforcement of a rule that requires certain Cleveland employees to be residents of the city. This rule was the result of a 1982 referendum passed by the residents of Cleveland. Therefore, the interests of the people of Cleveland are implicated in this case in two ways.

{¶ 16} First, the interests of the people of Cleveland are implicated because they are voters. Relators’ action has the potential (if the city appellants are believed) to eviscerate the ability of the commission to effectively investigate employee-residency issues. Second, residency is a threshold issue for municipal employment by Cleveland. As potential employees, the public is directly affected by the rule itself.

{¶ 17} Additionally, the records sought are being used as part of a civil-service-residency-examination process for which mandatory compliance is required to continue employment. A failure to successfully complete the process (for which the tax returns at issue are sought) can result in a termination of public employment. The public has an interest in seeing the continued employment of firefighters and police officers whom it has trained with taxpayer dollars and who have gained invaluable experience in their community.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
109 Ohio St. 3d 33, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-fisher-v-city-of-cleveland-ohio-2006.