Youngstown v. Carrier Servs. Group, Inc.

2026 Ohio 1032
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 25, 2026
Docket25 MA 0071
StatusPublished

This text of 2026 Ohio 1032 (Youngstown v. Carrier Servs. Group, Inc.) 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
Youngstown v. Carrier Servs. Group, Inc., 2026 Ohio 1032 (Ohio Ct. App. 2026).

Opinion

[Cite as Youngstown v. Carrier Servs. Group, Inc., 2026-Ohio-1032.]

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

CITY OF YOUNGSTOWN,

Plaintiff-Appellant,

v.

CARRIER SERVICES GROUP, INC., ET AL.,

Defendants-Appellee.

OPINION AND JUDGMENT ENTRY Case No. 25 MA 0071

Civil Appeal from the Court of Common Pleas of Mahoning County, Ohio Case No. 2023 CV 881

BEFORE: Mark A. Hanni, Cheryl L. Waite, Katelyn Dickey, Judges.

JUDGMENT: Affirmed in Part, Reversed in Part, and Remanded.

Atty. Steven K. Kelley, Atty. Frank H. Scialdone, and Atty. Sarah S. Chiappone, Mazanec, Raskin & Ryder Co., L.P.A. for Plaintiff-Appellant and Third-Party Defendants-Appellants and

Atty. Stephen J. Pruneski, Law Office of Stephen J. Pruneski, LLC, for Defendant- Appellee.

Dated: March 25, 2026 –2–

HANNI, J.

{¶1} Plaintiff-Appellant, the City of Youngstown (the City), and third-party Defendants-Appellants, Jamael Tito Brown, Jim Murray, and Chuck Shasho (the City employees), appeal from a Mahoning County Common Pleas Court judgment denying their motion for summary judgment and finding that they are not entitled to political subdivision immunity or qualified immunity on the claims of Defendant-Appellee, Carrier Services Group, Inc. (CSG). {¶2} Because there are no tort claims raised against the City, it is not entitled to political subdivision immunity under R.C. 2744.02, which provides political subdivisions immunity from tort claims. Thus, the trial court was correct in denying the City’s motion for summary judgment, albeit for the incorrect reason. And because CSG did not meet its burden in demonstrating the City employees were not entitled to federal qualified immunity, the trial court should have granted summary judgment in favor of the City employees. Therefore, the trial court’s judgment is affirmed in part and reversed in part. {¶3} Since sometime prior to 2014, the City has owned the building located at 20 Federal Street in Youngstown (the Property). CSG is a company engaged in the business of telecommunications asset recovery and supply for phone companies. {¶4} In 2014, the City’s Board of Control executed a lease agreement (the Lease) with CSG for office space located in the Property (the leased premises). The Lease term was to commence October 1, 2014 and run through September 30, 2020. The Lease provided that CSG, at its sole option, could renew the Lease for one five-year term by providing written notice of its intent to do so to the landlord 90 days before the end of the current Lease term (which would have been by July 2, 2020). {¶5} CSG did not provide written notice of its intent to renew by July 2, 2020. It was not until an October 7, 2020 letter (after the Lease had already expired) that CSG expressed its intent to renew in writing. The letter was purportedly signed by an administrative assistant in the City’s Building and Grounds Department, whom the City states did not have authority to sign to renew the Lease. In reliance on this letter, CSG continued to occupy and rent the leased premises, sending the City yearly rental checks. {¶6} In June 2022, the City was awarded a remediation grant. At the time, the City had numerous tenants renting space in the Property, in addition to CSG. Because

Case No. 25 MA 0071 –3–

of this remediation, the City began vacating its tenants from the Property. {¶7} On January 3, 2023, the City posted an eviction notice on CSG’s door at the leased premises. {¶8} On May 11, 2023, the City filed a forcible entry and detainer action to evict CSG. On June 6, 2023, CSG filed its answer and counterclaim against the City alleging claims for declaratory judgment and breach of contract. {¶9} The eviction claim was heard before a magistrate. The magistrate made the following findings of fact and conclusions of law. CSG did not properly renew the Lease. Therefore, the Lease expired on its own terms on September 30, 2020. CSG then became a month-to-month tenant and was entitled to 30-days’ prior written notice of the cancellation of the tenancy, which the magistrate found the City did not provide. Thus, the magistrate denied the City’s claim for a forcible entry and detainer. But the magistrate stated the City could proceed with eviction proceedings after perfecting notice as to the cancellation of the Lease in accordance with the law. CSG filed objections to the magistrate’s decision. {¶10} On August 24, 2023, the City gave CSG 30-days’ notice that it was terminating the Lease. It also attempted to return rent checks to CSG. Despite the notice, CSG remained on the leased premises claiming it was still a tenant under the Lease. According to the City, when CSG did not vacate the premises, the City resorted to “self- help” by removing CSG’s equipment and demolishing the space. According to CSG, the City and its contractors piled debris in front of the leased premises, allowed construction debris to damage its computer equipment, cut CSG’s fiber optic lines, terminated CSG’s electrical service, and otherwise destroyed the leased premises. {¶11} On December 6, 2023, the trial court overruled CSG’s objections, adopted the magistrate’s decision, and entered judgment denying the City’s forcible entry and detainer claim. The court stated that the City could proceed with eviction proceedings after perfecting notice as to the cancellation of the Lease in accordance with the law. {¶12} Subsequently, on December 21, 2023, CSG filed a motion to amend its counterclaim and add third-party claims. The court granted the motion. And on January 8, 2024, CSG added claims against Defendants, MS Consultants, Inc. (MS Consultants) and Daniel A. Terreri & Sons, Inc. (Terreri), for tortious interference with a contract,

Case No. 25 MA 0071 –4–

conversion, and property damage. MS Consultants and Terreri were the contractors on the demolition/renovation project. {¶13} It also added three City employees as Defendants: then-Mayor Jamael Tito Brown; capital project engineer Jim Murray; and deputy director of public works Chuck Shasho (the City employees). The only claim against the City employees was for a violation of 42 U.S.C. §1983. This claim alleged the City “embarked on a purposeful, intentional, and malicious plan” to remove CSG from the Premises by such actions as: (1) allowing construction debris to cave-in the entrance to the Premises and allowing construction dust and debris to damage CSG’s computer equipment; (2) cutting CSG’s fiber optic lines; (3) cutting off the power supply; (4) destroying and removing the walls and doors of the Premises; (5) destroying computer equipment; and (6) depriving CSG of its property interest in the Premises. The claim asserted these actions were undertaken by the City employees and that the City employees’ conduct “was taken outside the scope of any possible authority or job duties . . . rendering them personally liable.” {¶14} The City and the City employees filed a motion for summary judgment on October 30, 2024.1 They asserted they were entitled to statutory immunity under R.C. 2744 and federal qualified immunity from CSG’s claims. They also argued the trial court had already found there was no valid lease, the City properly used self-help, CSG was not pursuing a tortious interference claim against them, CSG failed to adequately plead a §1983 claim, and Terreri was not entitled to indemnification from the City. {¶15} CSG filed a memorandum in opposition arguing numerous genuine issues of material fact existed to preclude summary judgment.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2026 Ohio 1032, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/youngstown-v-carrier-servs-group-inc-ohioctapp-2026.