Fiedeldey v. Finneytown Local School Dist. Bd. of Edn.

Citations

• 156 N.E.3d 1017
• 2020 Ohio 3960

Syllabus

APPELLATE REVIEW – DAMAGES – MITIGATION — R.C. 3319.16: The trial court did not abuse its discretion in reversing the board of education's decision to terminate a teacher's employment where the court conducted its own review of the evidence as permitted by R.C. 3319.16 and determined that the board's finding of good and just cause to terminate was not supported by the weight of the evidence. Although the trial court's statement that a former teacher whose employment was wrongfully terminated was not obligated to mitigate her damages was not a correct statement of law, the court properly declined to diminish the teacher's back pay award because the board failed to meet its burden to prove that substantially-equivalent positions had been available or the amount that the former teacher could have earned in appropriate employment in mitigation of damages.