White v. Columbus Board of Education

441 N.E.2d 303, 2 Ohio App. 3d 178, 2 Ohio B. 195, 1982 Ohio App. LEXIS 10883
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedJuly 15, 1982
Docket82AP-57
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 441 N.E.2d 303 (White v. Columbus Board of Education) 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
White v. Columbus Board of Education, 441 N.E.2d 303, 2 Ohio App. 3d 178, 2 Ohio B. 195, 1982 Ohio App. LEXIS 10883 (Ohio Ct. App. 1982).

Opinion

Brogan, J.

From September 1963 through January 1969, Janet White, appellant herein, certified by the state of Ohio to teach kindergarten through eighth grade, taught first grade in the Columbus Public School District pursuant to a series of contracts with the Columbus Board of Education, appellee herein.

At all times relevant to this case, teachers in the Columbus district were paid in accordance with a schedule which corresponded directly with the type of college degree and the number of years of experience each teacher possessed. To receive credit for one-year’s experience, a full-time teacher had to teach for one hundred twenty days during a school year.

During the course of the 1968-69 school year, appellant became pregnant, and, on January 29, 1969, pursuant to a board of education policy requiring pregnant women to take a leave of absence no later than ninety days before the expected *179 delivery date, appellant took a leave of absence. She was physically and mentally capable of continuing to teach for at least one hundred twenty days during that year.

Appellant resumed employment with appellee for the 1975-76 school year as a half-time kindergarten teacher. Appellant entered into a one-year written contract with appellee which set forth a salary commensurate with the sixth-step Master’s Degree designation on the salary schedule, adjusted to fifty percent based upon appellant’s half-time status. In view of the requirement that half-time teachers teach two years to advance one step on the salary schedule, appellant entered into a similar contract with appellee for the 1976-77 school year, as well as for the 1977-78 school year.

Shortly after signing her contract for the 1978-79 school year, appellant was informed that the year in which she took maternity leave should not have been counted as a year of experience in that she failed to teach for one hundred twenty days that year. Appellee further advised appellant that, for the 1975-76 and 1976-77 school years, she should have been at the fifth-step Master’s Degree level of the salary schedule. Consequently, repayment of $383 would have to be made through adjustments to appellant’s salary checks during the 1978-79 and 1979-80 school years.

In a letter dated February 2,1979 ap-pellee outlined a repayment schedule, explained the impact upon appellant’s net pay, and requested that she sign and return a copy of the letter, thereby acknowledging her agreement to permit the designated adjustments. Appellant complied with appellee’s requests and the necessary adjustments were accomplished.

On July 2,1980, appellant filed a complaint in the Court of Common Pleas of Franklin County for mandamus, seeking declaratory and injunctive relief against appellee. Appellant contended that the deductions by appellee from her salary violated R.C. 2715.01, 3319.08 and 4113.15. Appellant also maintained that the maternity policy violated the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as well as Section 1983, Title 42, U.S. Code.

The parties submitted the cause to the court on stipulations of fact and briefs of counsel. In a decision filed December 9, 1981, the trial court denied appellant’s request for relief.

Appellant timely filed a notice of appeal and has set forth four assignments of error. The first assignment of error is as follows:

“1. The trial court erred in holding that plaintiff waived any reservation of rights under her employment contract with defendant when she agreed in writing to a reduction in salary.”

Initially, appellant insisted that ap-pellee’s request for reimbursement of the alleged overpayment had no basis in law in that payments, made in good faith under color of the law and subsequently found to have been erroneous, ordinarily cannot be recovered. State, ex rel. Parsons, v. Ferguson (1976), 46 Ohio St. 2d 389, 392 [75 O.O.2d 456]; State, ex rel. Gillie, v. Warren (1973), 36 Ohio St. 2d 89, 93 [65 O.O.2d 241],

Appellant also argues that her acquiescence in the repayment plan did not constitute a waiver of her rights in that her consent was not intended as a concession of appellee’s entitlement to the alleged overpayment but, reflected the selection of the least financially burdensome alternative. In addition, appellee failed to apprise appellant of her rights when obtaining her consent to the adjustments to her salary. Further, having legal counsel on its staff, and being appellant’s employer, placed appellee in a more advantageous position to demand a refund. Coupled with the fact that appellant, lacking counsel, did not have full knowledge of her rights, assertedly, she *180 could not be considered to have intentionally and voluntarily relinquished known rights.

Next, appellant maintains that procedures may not be instituted to recover alleged overpayments except as provided in R.C. 117.10 and 2715.01. Deducting money from appellant’s salary, without first acquiring certification of a wrongful expenditure, is a violation of R.C. 117.10. Further, resort to self-help prior to filing a suit and obtaining a judgment constituted an attachment in aid of execution and/or garnishment without a judgment in violation of R.C. 2715.01.

Finally, appellant claims that paying her less than that specified in her contract constituted a violation of R.C. 3319.08 which prohibits the diminishing of salaries during the term of the contract.

Regarding the rule of nonrecovery of payments made lawfully and in good faith, such prohibition is directed toward unilateral action by the official attempting to secure the return of the payments. Clearly, however repayment preceded by the consent of the person from whom the funds are sought does not establish unilateral action and this rule would have no applicability in such case.

On the issue of consent, having thoroughly examined the record, we consider appellant’s position to lack sufficient factual support to negate the validity of the agreement entered into by the parties. Thus, this cause is distinguishable from the ordinary case involving unilateral action in which the rationale of Ferguson, supra, and Warren, supra, would control.

Concerning procedures for recovering alleged overpayments, R.C. 117.01 creates the Bureau of Inspection and Supervision of Public Offices, and authorizes the bureau to examine the accounts and reports of all public offices, including school districts. Upon examination, the bureau is required to make a report and file a certified copy thereof with all necessary parties as designated in R.C. 117.10. Where such report sets forth, inter alia, that public money has been illegally expended, the appropriate official is required to institute, within ninety days of receipt of the report, a civil action for recovery of the money expended. R.C. 117.10.

R.C. 117.10 further mandates that:

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Bluebook (online)
441 N.E.2d 303, 2 Ohio App. 3d 178, 2 Ohio B. 195, 1982 Ohio App. LEXIS 10883, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/white-v-columbus-board-of-education-ohioctapp-1982.