Woods v. Sharkin

Citations

• 2022 Ohio 1949

Syllabus

Default judgment abuse of discretion sua sponte convert dismiss notice Civ.R. 12(B)(6) Civ.R. 12(C) news media balanced reporting landlord tenant. - In this defamation case brought by a landlord and against news media and former tenants, the trial court's judgment is affirmed in part and reversed in part. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying landlord's motion for default against properly served defendants, but erred in sua sponte converting the default motion to a Civ.R. 12(B)(6) motion to dismiss without notice to the landlord and then dismissing the complaint against those defaulting defendants for failure to state a claim pursuant to Civ.R. 12(B)(6). Trial court did not err in granting the media defendants' Civ.R. 12(B)(6) motion to dismiss the complaint because the news report presented balanced reporting and it was substantially truthful. Landlord's complaint sufficiently pleaded causes of action to survive a former tenant's Civ.R. 12(B)(6) motion to dismiss and another defendant's Civ.R. (12)(C) motion for judgment on the pleadings.