State ex rel. Bowling v. DeWine

Excerpt

Motion overruled and judgment reversed. Appellees' motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction is overruled. The trial court's denial of a preliminary injunction is "provisional remedy" that qualifies as a final appealable order under R.C. 2505.02(B). Delaying review of appellants' claim for injunctive relief would result in the lack of a "meaningful or effective remedy" because future monetary damages would not rectify the harm or undo the damage caused by the deprivation of unemployment benefits today. The mandate of R.C. 4141.43(I) that the Director of the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services shall "secure to this state and its citizens all advantages available" under the enumerated federal unemployment compensation statutes applies to Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation under 15 U.S.C. 9023. When terminating those benefits, the Governor encroached upon the legislative power exclusively reserved to the General Assembly under Article II, Section 1 of the Ohio Constitution to determine matters of public policy, as well as the specific reservation of power under Article II, Section 34 to provide "for the comfort, health, safety and general welfare of all employe[e]s," which may not be limited by any "other provision of the constitution." The trial court therefore abused its discretion when it ruled that appellees were unlikely to succeed on the merits of the claim, and the case is remanded for the trial court to complete the preliminary injunction analysis.