Abstract
The Ohio Political Subdivision Tort Liability Act confers general immunity on political subdivisions. Therefore, government owned homes seek to avoid liability by raising the defenses provided by the Ohio Political Subdivision Tort Liability Act, despite the resident's rights under the Nursing Home Bill of Rights. The result is that residents of government owned nursing homes have inferior remedies for the tortious acts of a county home's employees. The disparate treatment meted out to residents of county owned homes opens the Political Subdivision Act to another challenge: equal protection. The law formerly recognized that government actors taking part in the marketplace like any other participant were liable "in the same manner, and to the same extent" as any other participant. Under Cramer, while residents of non-county owned homes can sue for ordinary negligence, county owned homes can be found immune for the same conduct. There is no justification for this disparate treatment.
Recommended Citation
Peter Traska Elk & Elk Co., Ltd. and Katherine Knouff,
Discretion to Follow the Law: The Collision of Ohio's Nursing Home Bill of Rights with Ohio's Political Subdivision Tort Liability Act,
22 J.L. & Health
241
(2009)
available at https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/jlh/vol22/iss2/4
Included in
Elder Law Commons, Health Law and Policy Commons, State and Local Government Law Commons, Torts Commons