First Posted: 3/18/2015
LIMA — Ohio’s 3rd District Court of Appeals has reversed the decision of Shelby County’s Common Pleas Court, allowing a registered nurse with no criminal record to pursue her defamation and emotional distress lawsuit against the Shelby County sheriff and a former deputy.
The appeals court ruled Monday that Sheriff John Lenhart and former Deputy Patrick Goldschmidt are not immune from civil liability, overturning the county court’s ruling that dismissed the case.
Christine Hughes, of Sidney, filed the complaint for defamation, false light and intentional infliction of emotional distress Feb. 21, 2014, after the sheriff held a news conference Jan. 24, 2014, regarding a crackdown on welfare fraud. Hughes’ photo was prominently displayed on the wall and also was provided to the media with a news release regarding the criminal use of sex, drugs and alcohol in the commission of welfare fraud, and it was distributed via social media.
The photos were supposed to be of people who had been convicted of welfare fraud. Hughes’ photo was mistakenly used instead of a different woman with the same name.
The Sheriff’s Office issued a retraction Jan. 25, 2014, but the lawsuit says the retraction implied the photo used was merely “the wrong mug shot or otherwise photograph of a convicted felon or individual charged with a criminal act,” leading a reasonable person to conclude that Hughes was still guilty or at least accused of some wrongdoing.
Hughes reported she continually had to defend herself against accusations of wrongdoing by people who believed the information initially disseminated.
On March 6, 2014, Lenhart and Goldschmidt filed a motion to dismiss in Shelby County Common Pleas Court based on their presumptive governmental immunity.
The court granted the motion to dismiss Aug. 5, and Hughes filed her notice of appeal on Aug. 29.
The court of appeals determined that the governmental immunity claimed applies only to negligence, not to reckless and wanton acts, as is alleged in the lawsuit.
Although the Sheriff’s Office issued a retraction to the original error, “the retraction still indicated that Hughes was either a convicted felon or had been charged with a criminal act,” wrote Judge John R. Willamowski for the appellate court.
He concluded that Hughes’ lawsuit sufficiently alleged that conduct was either intentional or reckless and, therefore, was exempt from immunity, and Hughes should be allowed to prove her case in court.
The case was remanded back to the Shelby County Common Pleas Court for further proceedings.
