Saturday, June 29, 2002
YOUNGSTOWN -- A former Campbell schools treasurer again has lost a bid to get his job back. The 7th District Court of Appeals dismissed an appeal Friday that had been filed in late 2000 by Joseph M. Sebest.
Sebest was appointed interim treasurer in April 1999 and served through the remainder of that year. When the school board offered him a two-year contract in January 2000, Sebest declined it because of a dispute over salary, after which the board rescinded the offer.
Sebest appealed to Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, saying he was fired without due process by the school board. Visiting Judge Mary Cacioppo upheld the board's action in November 2000, which resulted in the case's going to the court of appeals.
The appellate court ruled that Sebest was not actually terminated because he never signed the two-year contract. Instead, his employment "merely expired," so the school board was not required to follow due process requirements.
"An employer cannot fire someone it did not hire in the first place," the appellate court opinion says. It says the case should not have gone to court at all.