Resident files civil lawsuit in federal court against county officials, local individuals and businesses
The Highland County Press
An area resident (hereafter called "the litigator") has filed a civil lawsuit in federal court against numerous county officials and other individuals and businesses, alleging that his civil rights have been violated.
The resident filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio on Nov. 5, according to court records.
Listed as defendants are: Highland County Community Action Organization and current and former employees and contractors, both individually and collectively; current and former Highland County commissioners, both individually and collectively; the Highland County Prosecutor’s Office and the prosecutor individually; the Highland County Sheriff’s Office, as well as the Highland County sheriff and an HCSO deputy individually; local and national news media; the American Arbitration Association and one of its employees; two employees of the Ohio Department of Development; and two different attorneys and a law firm.
As previously reported, the litigator attended Highland County Commission meetings in 2022 making complaints and allegations about plumbing, electricity and other work completed at (the litigator's) residence through Community Action’s Home Weatherization Assistance Program and Community Housing Impact and Preservation (CHIP) Program.
Then-Highland County Community Action Housing Director Mark Current advised he was investigating the complaints. As reported May 5, 2022, according to Current, work on the home was completed in 2019, with the litigator completing the final certification and client satisfaction in June 2019 “stating his overall experience was excellent” and signing a “positive” CHIP Client Satisfaction Questionnaire in May 2019.
Current conducted an investigation that involved interviews of HCCAO staff and contractors and a visit to the home. The report shows that Current, along with commissioner Terry Britton and other HCCAO representatives, reviewed each of the allegations at the residence and wrote a response for each. For many of the allegations, Current said the investigation revealed “no evidence” to support those claims.
Highland County commissioners met with representatives of Highland County Community Action to discuss conflict resolution options for the issue again April 19, 2023. In an attempt to resolve the conflict with the homeowners, Current said at that time the state was recommending they start “the final step in the conflict resolution process,” which was arbitration through the American Arbitration Association.
According to documents in the litigator's court filing, the arbitrators dismissed the litigator's claims against HCCAO.
Now, the litigator has filed a “civil rights lawsuit alleging that Defendant(s), acting under color of state law, deprived [the litigator] of a right secured by federal law or the Constitution.”
The litigator is seeking $30 million for the alleged “bad workmanship, name slander, forgery, invasion of privacy and stress and emotions;” for defendants not saying that he was disabled; and for the “stress and emotions” on a family member, who lives with the litigator.
The litigator is also seeking “an apology” from all defendants “for all stress and emotions.”
The litigator has filed a 54-page complaint and then another 333-page document of various emails, articles, photos and handwritten notes.
The litigator has included The Highland County Press in the civil action.
Highland County Press publisher and owner Rory Ryan this week responded to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, in part, as follows:
"Please consider my response to Case No. 1:2024cv00636, filed Nov. 5, 2024.
"(The litigator) includes my newspaper, The Highland County Press, in Hillsboro, Ohio, as publishing quotes made by Mr. Mark Current of the Highland County Community Action Organization, Inc. during an April 2023 meeting of the Highland County Board of Commissioners.
"According to the litigation, (the litigator) was falsely accused of "stalking" by Mr. Current. (The litigator) further alleges that this was reported in the local newspapers (plural).
"Granted, there are two separately owned and operated newspapers in Hillsboro, Ohio. As you can see from the attached newspaper website links (copied to the Court this week), our newspaper did not include Mr. Current's allegations of "stalking," nor did we publish (the litigator's) name in our coverage of the April 2023 meeting of the Highland County Board of Commissioners. In fact, our reporter at that meeting only references (the litigator) as a "homeowner." We did not include (the litigator's) identity. (And we are not including it in this story.)
"Furthermore, we also did not publish Mr. Current's statements related to "stalking" from the April 2023 Board of Commissioners' meeting in The Highland County Press print edition, nor on any online social media or news sites.
"Lastly, this week my business received, via Certified Mail, a letter with a return address of the U.S. District Court Clerk. It was postmarked from Mount Orab, Ohio. It remains unopened in my office.
"The handwriting is most similar to that included in the filing of Case Number 1:2024cv00636. (An attached image has been sent to the Court and is posted online with this story.)
{Note: As a side note to the Court, if in fact, the handwriting on the return address is that of a Court employee and mailed from Mount Orab, Ohio, please advise, and I will take appropriate action. If the Court would like the as-yet unopened mailing, I can provide that as well.}
"Therefore, based on 28 U.S.C. S. 1927 for Vexatious Litigation, I respectfully request The Highland County Press and its representatives be removed from Case No. 1:2024cv00636."