Tarjanyi v. Ohio Dept. of Ins.

2024 Ohio 5239, 257 N.E.3d 430
Ohio Court of Appeals·Decided November 1, 2024·No. 30085·Published

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT MONTGOMERY COUNTY

RYAN TARJANYI :

:

Appellant : C.A. No. 30085 :

v. : Trial Court Case No. 2023 CV 03220 :

OHIO DEPARTMENT OF INSURANCE : (Civil Appeal from Common Pleas : Court)

Appellee :

:

...........

OPINION

Rendered on November 1, 2024 ...........

P.J. CONBOY,II, Attorney for Appellant LINDSAY A. MILLER SCHLIE & CHRISTIE LIMBERT, Attorneys for Appellee .............

EPLEY, P.J.

{¶ 1} Ryan Tarjanyi appeals from a judgment of the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas, which affirmed the Ohio Department of Insurance’s (ODI’s) decision to

revoke his Ohio resident insurance agent license. For the following reasons, the trial court’s judgment will be affirmed.

I. Facts and Procedural History

{¶ 2} According to ODI’s order on appeal, which confirmed and incorporated by reference the hearing officer’s report and recommendation, Tarjanyi was licensed as a resident insurance agent in Ohio on December 7, 2009. Since May 2012, he has also been licensed as an investment company and variable contracts products representative (IR). In May 2016, he became registered as an IR through his association with Bankers Life Securities, Inc.

{¶ 3} On or about January 7, 2018, a Bankers Life client lodged a complaint against Tarjanyi. ODI began an investigation, which was assigned to Investigator Mathew Taylor. Three months later, Bankers Life notified ODI that Tarjanyi had been terminated for cause.

{¶ 4} In February 2021, Tarjanyi entered into a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Letter of Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent (AWC), which became final on March 5, 2021. Under the terms of the letter of acceptance, Tarjanyi agreed not to associate with a FINRA member entity in any way. Tarjanyi did not report the AWC to ODI until he submitted a license renewal application on January 5, 2022.

{¶ 5} In March 2021, Tarjanyi submitted agent appointment applications to work with Safeco Insurance, AAA Insurance, Westfield Insurance, and Foremost Insurance Group. On his applications, he denied that he had had any relationship with an insurance company that terminated him for alleged misconduct and/or that he had been

involved as a party in an administrative disciplinary proceeding regarding his license. Tarjanyi knew, however, that he had been terminated for cause by Bankers Life in 2018 and was a party to the FINRA AWC in 2021.

{¶ 6} In mid-October 2021, Investigator Taylor sent Tarjanyi a subpoena for an interview to be held on November 10, 2021. Before the date of the interview, Tarjanyi’s attorney sought a postponement due to medical procedures Tarjanyi had scheduled. Taylor requested documentation to verify Tarjanyi’s medical status. Tarjanyi did not appear for the November 10 interview, but Tarjanyi’s attorney informed Taylor that documentation would be forthcoming. On November 22, 2021, his attorney sent a letter purportedly from a physician at UC Health concerning Tarjanyi’s medical status. Taylor was unable to verify that a physician by that name was licensed in Ohio.

{¶ 7} On July 20, 2022, ODI sent Tarjanyi a Notice for Opportunity for Hearing, alleging 11 violations of Ohio insurance law. The allegations asserted that Tarjanyi had: (1) submitted of a forged annuity withdrawal form to Bankers Life in violation of R.C. 3905.14(B)(26) (Count One); (2) been terminated for cause by Bankers Life for “intentionally providing false or misleading information to the home office, a regulator, or law enforcement personnel” in violation of R.C. 3905.14(B)(9) (Count Two); (3) been subject to the FINRA AWC in violation of R.C. 3905.14(B)(17) (Count Three); (4) failed to timely report the FINRA AWC to ODI in violation of R.C. 3905.22(A) (Count Four); (5) provided incomplete, incorrect, misleading, or materially untrue information on a license applications in violation of R.C 3905.14(B)(1) (Counts Five through Nine); (6) failed to appear for the November 10, 2021 interview without being released from the

subpoena in violation of R.C. 3905.14(B)(22) (Count Ten); and (7) submitted on November 22, 2021 a fraudulent document regarding his health in violation of R.C. 3905.14(B)(9) (Count Eleven).

{¶ 8} Tarjanyi requested a hearing, but it was repeatedly continued. Ultimately, he submitted a written response to ODI’s accusations in lieu of a hearing. ODI elected to respond in writing, and the hearing was canceled. In its response, ODI withdrew Count One.

{¶ 9} In February 2023, after reviewing the written submissions, the hearing officer found that ODI had proven each of the ten counts on which it had proceeded. He recommended revocation of Tarjanyi’s Ohio resident insurance agent license. Tarjanyi objected to the hearing officer’s proposed order. However, the superintendent of ODI confirmed and approved the proposed order and revoked Tarjanyi’s license.

{¶ 10} Pursuant to R.C. 119.12, Tarjanyi filed a notice of appeal in the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas, alleging that the decision to revoke his resident insurance agent license was “not supported by reliable, probative and substantial evidence and [was] not in accordance with law.” On February 29, 2024, the trial court overruled the appeal, finding that ODI’s Final Order revoking Tarjanyi’s insurance license was supported by reliable, probative, and substantial evidence.

{¶ 11} Tarjanyi appeals the trial court’s judgment. His sole assignment of error states that the trial court erred in overruling his administrative appeal of ODI’s revocation of his Ohio resident insurance agent license.

II. Standard of Review

{¶ 12} R.C. 119.12 applies to appeals of decisions of licensing boards. Clem D’s Auto Sales v. Bur. of Motor Vehicles, 2014-Ohio-951, ¶ 19 (2d Dist.). “Under R.C. 119.12, when a decision of a state board is appealed, a court of common pleas must decide whether the board’s order was ‘supported by reliable, probative, and substantial evidence and is in accordance with law.’ ” Spitznagel v. State Bd. of Edn., 2010-Ohio- 2715, ¶ 14, quoting R.C. 119.12. The trial court must give deference to the board’s resolution of factual conflicts unless they are clearly unsupportable. Clem D’s Auto Sales at ¶ 19, citing Jackson v. Ohio Dept. of Rehab. & Corr., 2009-Ohio-896, ¶ 18 (2d Dist.).

{¶ 13} Generally, in the hearing of an administrative appeal, the trial court is confined to the record as certified to it by the agency. R.C. 119.12(L); Seaquist v. Dayton, 2023-Ohio-4563, ¶ 13 (2d Dist.). However, “the court may grant a request for the admission of additional evidence when satisfied that the additional evidence is newly discovered and could not with reasonable diligence have been ascertained prior to the hearing before the agency.” R.C. 119.12(L).

{¶ 14} The trial court may affirm the order on appeal if it finds, “upon consideration of the entire record and any additional evidence the court has admitted, that the order is supported by reliable, probative, and substantial evidence and is in accordance with law.” R.C. 119.12(N). “In the absence of this finding, it may reverse, vacate, or modify the order or make such other ruling as is supported by reliable, probative, and substantial evidence and is in accordance with law. Id.

{¶ 15} An appellate court’s review is more limited than that of the trial court. We review the trial court’s determination on whether the order was supported by reliable,

probative, and substantial evidence for an abuse its discretion. Rossford Exempted Village School Dist. Bd. of Edn. v. State Bd. of Edn., 63 Ohio St.3d 705, 707 (1992). An abuse of discretion means that the trial court’s attitude was unreasonable, arbitrary, or unconscionable. Blakemore v. Blakemore, 5 Ohio St.3d 217, 219 (1983). When reviewing whether the board’s or the trial court’s order was in accordance with the law, our review is de novo. Spitznagel, 2010-Ohio-2715, at ¶ 14.

III. Review of the Trial Court’s Determination

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Tarjanyi v. Ohio Dept. of Ins., 2024 Ohio 5239, 257 N.E.3d 430 (Ohio Ct. App. 2024).

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