Ohio Supreme Court Finds the Plain Meaning of an Immunity Exception Supersedes any Deference to the Political Subdivision

The Ohio Supreme Court overruled the holding of the Ninth District Court of Appeals and limited the understanding of a governmental entity’s immunity for property damage, resulting from a roadway defect, to the plain meaning of the statute. 

In this case, the Ninth District found the negligent-roadway-maintenance exception to sovereign immunity did not apply because the plaintiff was not a motorist on the road. Instead, she was a neighboring property owner whose basement had flooded, allegedly as a result of a blocked culvert in a public road. 

The Ohio Supreme Court held the Ninth District improperly read a purpose of the statute into the plain meaning of R.C. 2744.02(B)(3). The roadway exception applies to any person who suffers loss to property caused by the political subdivision’s negligence in maintaining public roads.  

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