Queen City Lodge No. 69, Fraternal Order of Police v. State Emp. Relations Bd

In Queen City Lodge No. 69, Fraternal Order of Police, v. State Emp. Relations Bd., 2007 Ohio 170, the Fraternal Order of Police ("FOP") filed an unfair-labor-practice charge against the city with the State Employment Relations Board ("SERB"). SERB denied the charge. The FOP filed an administrative appeal in the trial court, but did not name the city as a party. The trial court denied the city's motion to intervene. The court held the order denying the city's motion was a final order because it affected a substantial right and in effect determined the action and prevented a judgment for the city. However, the judgment left unadjudicated the pending claims of the parties. The court held that without the Civ.R. 54(B) finding, the order was not appealable. Id. at P11-12. The First District held that a judgment entry denying a motion to intervene is not a final, appealable order with the lack of Civ.R. 54(B) language. at P12. Interestingly, the First District also held that the entity whose motion to intervene was denied could not appeal the final judgment on the merits, because such entity was not a "party." Id. at P14-15. Recognizing the potential dilemma, the First District concluded the only remedy for the entity whose motion to intervene was denied was to attempt to intervene at the appellate level into an appeal filed by another party. Id. at P17.