Wallace v. Ohio Department of Commerce

{¶ 1} This case asks us to decide whether the state may raise the public-duty rule as a bar to liability in an action in the Court of Claims alleging negligent inspection by the Ohio Department of Commerce, Division of the Fire Marshal (“fire marshal”). Because the public-duty rule is inconsistent with the express language of the Court of Claims Act, we hold that the state may not.

I

{¶ 2} On July 3, 1996, Todd Hall carried a lit cigarette into the Ohio River Fireworks store in Scottown, Lawrence County, Ohio. Before store employees could intervene, Hall used the cigarette to ignite a stack of…