State ex rel. Domhoff v. Ohio Pub. Employees Ret. Sys. Bd.
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One of the exceptions to public employee membership in the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System (OPERS) is set forth in Ohio Rev. Code 145.03, which provides that a student employee is exempt from OPERS membership if the student requests exemption by submitting a form to OPERS, OPERS approves the exemption, and the student is “continuously employed” by the school. OPERS concluded that Appellants, five current and former student employees of Youngstown State University (YSU), had all requested exemptions and were all continuously employed by the university. Appellants filed a petition for a writ of mandamus, arguing that the exemption forms were invalid and that they were not “continuously employed” within the meaning of section 145.03. The court of appeals denied the writ. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) OPERS correctly interpreted the law to mean that the student employees were continuously employed even though YSU had a policy of terminating student employees at the end of the school year; and (2) OPERS was therefore correct in finding that Appellants needed to sign only one application for exemption from membership in OPERS at or near the time of their initial employment to be exempt from membership.
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