Gupta v. Cleveland

Citations

• 2018 Ohio 3475

Syllabus

Core Terms: public record court of claims R.C. 2743.75 R.C. 149.43(B) moot inspect promptly non-existent backup server email personal ambiguous overly broad. Overview: Requester sought to inspect city records relating to waste collection/disposal, and specific city employees. During litigation, the city produced over 24,000 pages of responsive records, denied most of the requests as overly broad, and stated there were no additional records responsive to the properly made requests. Requester asked the court to rule on several of the requests as modified in the course of mediation, rather than the original requests pled in her complaint. Requester claimed that the city had violated R.C. 149.43(B) by not searching its backup email server for responsive records, and by not requiring employees to search their personal email accounts, computers, cell phones, and other devices for responsive records. The special master found that under the facts and circumstances the city had no duty to search either its backup server or its employees' personal accounts and devices. The special master found that, other than as they had been rendered moot by the city's production of existing responsive records, requester's requests were ambiguous, overly broad, and therefore unenforceable.