Anderson Township trustees have been ordered by a court to rescind their public commitment to paying women and people of color equally.
Township resident Olaf Rask filed a lawsuit on Aug. 28 against the township and its three trustees, Dee Stone, Katie Nappi and Tom Hodges. The complaint alleged they violated Ohio's Open Meetings Act when two of them signed Hamilton County's Pay Equity Commitment on the township's behalf before the full board publicly approved it.
Court documents show Stone and Nappi signed the commitment on March 31 at the official signing day held by the Hamilton County Commission on Women and Girls at Memorial Hall.Both the township and Rask agreed to a temporary restraining order through at least Sept. 11 that would force
the trustees to halt the implementation of the pay equity commitment. Judge Chris McDowell in the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas signed the order.
Rask's attorney Curt C. Hartman explained the issue is strictly about procedure. "A township resident wants his township trustees to abide by the law as I would hope every township resident would," he said.
What other government orgs have pledged pay equity?
Over 200 Cincinnati-area organizations have signed the commitment in the last five years. The list includes governments like Cheviot, Forest Park, Montgomery and Norwood, as well as Symmes Township, the Village of Mariemont, Silverton and St. Bernard.
The Enquirer recently reported that Anderson Township officials wereamong the latest group of 40 employers to sign the non-binding pledge, which launched in 2021 as a way to help companies close the gender- and race-based pay gaps.
This year, the city of Wyoming, Urban Sites, an Over-the-Rhine developer, and The Mercantile Library also signed the pledge.
What is the legal issue here?
According to township records, the full board of trustees voted to unanimously approve the pay equity commitment on April 2. Meeting minutes reveal that it was not discussed prior to the March 31 signing day.
This is where Rask alleges the trustees violated Ohio's Open Meetings Act, which requires government bodies to deliberate and vote on public business in public meetings.
Nowhere in the lawsuit does it suggest that Rask is against the pay equity commitment itself. But his approved request temporarily blocks Anderson Township from acting on the pay equity commitment until the court determines if the Open Meetings Act was violated.
Additional reporting by Erin Glynn
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Anderson Township ordered to rescind pay equity commitment
