City of Cincinnati v. Scheer & Scheer Development

Mark P. Painter, Judge.

{¶ 1} Plaintiff-appellant, the city of Cincinnati, challenges the trial court’s grant of summary judgment to defendant-appellee Jindal Builders and Restoration Corporation. The trial court had overruled a magistrate’s findings that the city’s financing of a development project in the Findlay Market neighborhood was not a public improvement.

{¶ 2} But the city’s control over the contractor was tantamount to a principal-agency relationship. The city’s control of financing, possible share of profits, and implementation of city hiring and employment policies established the…