Last week, Ohio University filed an attempt to dismiss a federal lawsuit from John Stabler, an Ohio University Police Officer.
Ohio University filed an attempt to dismiss a federal lawsuit from an Ohio University police officer last week.
OU based its claim around the fact that the Court of Claims of Ohio has no jurisdiction to allow the officer, John Stabler, relief. Stabler was placed on paid administrative leave in 2013 while being investigated internally about a use-of-force incident following an arrest, according to court documents.
Stabler asserted four claims stemming from his placement on paid administrative leave.
Documents show Stabler’s first claim was that OU violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by failing to pay him overtime compensation for time he spent waiting to work for OU. Stabler was on administrative leave for about a year.
Stabler was ordered to wait to be notified by OU during the university's business hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, according to court documents.
OU claims Stabler could not win this claim because he failed to show that while he was waiting to return to work his time was spent "acting predominately for OU’s benefit," according to court documents.
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Stabler’s second and third claims stemmed from a violation of Ohio law about administrative leave. Court documents do not specify what exactly the violation was, but said the law did not apply to Stabler and that the court lacked jurisdiction to hear any claims in the that matter.
Stabler’s last claim said OU’s decision to place him on paid administrative leave pending the completion of the internal investigation placed him in a false light, according to court documents.
Documents also say that the court lacks jurisdiction to hear that claim because it requires a collective bargaining agreement. The documents state that even if the court had jurisdiction to hear the false light claim, he is not entitled to relief.
“Stabler’s suit is nothing more than a glorified (collective bargaining agreement) dispute designed to strip OUPD management of its rights under contract,” the document said of OU's position. “Therefore, OU respectfully requests that Stabler’s lawsuit be dismissed in its entirety.”
Stabler has not filed a response to OU’s motion as of press time.
@Fair3Julia
Jf311013@ohio.edu
