Appeals court rules on lawsuit case

Former treasurer sued Stow district

The Ohio 9th District Court of Appeals has reversed a decision in former Stow-Munroe Falls City Schools Treasurer Kristy Stoicoiu’s civil suit against the district board of education, sending the case back to Summit County Common Pleas Court.

Stoicoiu, who now serves as the treasurer for the Cuyahoga Falls City School

District, had appealed the Summit County court’s ruling granting summary judgment to the Stow district after she brought a wrongful termination suit against her former employer.

The appellate court, in an opinion written by Judge Jennifer Hensal, ruled Wednesday that the trial court erred when it granted summary judgment, finding that the school board made the motion at the incorrect time.

Stoicoiu did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and her attorney declined to speak about the case.

An attorney for the district also declined to comment.

C. Michael Walsh, court administrator for the 9th District, said there are several possible paths that the trial court and the parties involved could take. Walsh said the judge in the case could greenlight a trial, or Stoicoiu and the board could file new motions for summary judgment and make their arguments at the appropriate time.

Stoicoiu sued the Stow-Munroe Falls City School District in 2019, alleging that the nonrenewal of her contract was in retaliation for reporting financial irregularities and improper spending. She claimed that the district’s termination was a breach of contract and a violation of Ohio’s Sunshine Law.

According to court documents, the case ended with a summary judgment in favor of the school district, with the court writing that the board “articulated a legitimate, nondiscriminatory basis for non-renewal of her contract and Ms. Stoicoiu had not produced evidence demonstrating that the Board’s justification was pretext.”