Ohio Supreme Court, 1983

State ex rel. Kabatek v. Stackhouse

Ohio Supreme Court · Decided July 20, 1983 · Brown, Celebrezze, Holmes, Locher, Sweeney

6 Ohio St. 3d 55; 451 N.E.2d 248; 6 Ohio B. 73; 1983 Ohio LEXIS 777

Cases that cite this one

42 later published cases cite this decision. The 25 that cite it most often are listed here.

Rayco Mfg., Inc. v. Murphy, Rogers, Sloss & Gambel (Ohio Ct. App. 2019)
Becker v. Direct Energy, LP (Ohio Ct. App. 2018)
State ex rel. Cornell v. Greene Cty. Bd. Commrs. (Ohio Ct. App. 2014)
Nottingdale Homeowners' Ass'n v. Darby (Ohio 1987)
Grieselding v. Krischak, L-06-1010 (6-1-2007) (Ohio Ct. App. 2007)
State Ex Rel. Gerchak v. Tablack (Ohio Ct. App. 1997)
State ex rel. Caspar v. City of Dayton (Ohio 1990)
State ex rel. Summit Cty. Republican Party Executive Commt. v. LaRose (Ohio 2023)
Cleveland Fire Fighters, Local 93 of the I.A.F.F. v. Cleveland (Ohio Ct. App. 2020)
Watershed Mgt., L.L.C. v. Neff (Ohio Ct. App. 2012)
State ex rel. Chapnick v. East Cleveland City School District Board of Education (Ohio 2001)
State ex rel. Chapnick v. E. Cleveland City School Dist. Bd. of Edn. (Ohio 2001)
Spalding v. Coulson (Ohio Ct. App. 1995)
Sharp v. Norfolk & Western Railway Co. (Ohio 1995)
Sharp v. Norfolk & W. Ry. Co. (Ohio 1995)
Oberlin Manor, Ltd. v. Lorain County Board of Revision (Ohio 1994)
Oberlin Manor, Ltd. v. Lorain Cty. Bd. of Revision (Ohio 1994)
Mlinarcik v. E.E. Wehrung Parking, Inc. (Ohio Ct. App. 1993)
Miller v. Gustus (Ohio Ct. App. 1993)
Vinci v. Ceraolo (Ohio Ct. App. 1992)
State Ex Rel. Yudofsky v. City of Cincinnati (Ohio Ct. App. 1992)
Amiri v. Thropp (Ohio Ct. App. 1992)
Starinki v. Pace (Ohio Ct. App. 1991)
Consun Food Industries, Inc. v. Fowkes (Ohio Ct. App. 1991)
White v. Soo (Ohio Ct. App. 1989)

This list shows which later cases cite this one. It does not say how they treated it, and no review of that has been done. Not a substitute for Shepard’s or KeyCite — verify before relying.

Opinion of the Court

Per Curiam.

Appellant contests the denial of his request for an award of attorney fees.

“The general rule in Ohio is that, absent a statutory provision allowing attorney fees as costs, the prevailing party is not entitled to an award of at*56torney fees unless the party against whom the fees are taxed was found to have acted in bad faith. See Sorin v. Bd. of Edn. (1976), 46 Ohio St. 2d 177 [75 O.O.2d 224]; State, ex rel. Grosser, v. Boy (1976), 46 Ohio St. 2d 184 [75 O.O.2d 228].” State, ex rel. Crockett, v. Robinson (1981), 67 Ohio St. 2d 363, 369 [21 O.O.2d 228],

Appellant argues that appellees acted in bad faith by engaging in dilatory conduct designed to prolong litigation and delay the award of back pay to appellant. Specifically, appellant contends that appellees’ motion to dismiss, the granting of which was the subject of the first appeal to this court, was without merit and filed only for the purpose of delay.

We cannot agree that this demonstrates bad faith on the part of appellees. As we stated in State, ex rel. Crockett, supra, at 369-370, the fact that appellees interposed a defense which was ultimately overruled does not, in and of itself, demonstrate bad faith. The court of appeals was persuaded by the motion and granted it. Though we reversed the dismissal, we agree that a colorable issue was presented for consideration on the merits as to whether appellant’s intervening retirement would affect his entitlement to back pay.

Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the court of appeals denying appellant an award of attorney fees.

Judgment affirmed.

Celebrezze, C.J., W. Brown, Sweeney, Locher, Holmes, C. Brown and J. P. Celebrezze, JJ., concur.

Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.