Ohio Code 2305.237 – Immunity of domestic violence shelter and associated persons concerning torts committed on shelter premises
(A) Except as provided in division (B) of this section and subject to section 2305.239 of the Revised Code, a shelter for victims of domestic violence and a director, owner, trustee, officer, employee, victim advocate, or volunteer of the shelter are not liable in damages in a tort action for harm that a shelter client or other person who is on the shelter’s premises allegedly sustains as a result of tortious conduct of a perpetrator that is committed on the shelter’s premises if the perpetrator is not a director, owner, trustee, officer, employee, victim advocate, or volunteer of the shelter and if any of the following situations applies:
Terms Used In Ohio Code 2305.237
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Person: includes an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, and association. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
- Tort: A civil wrong or breach of a duty to another person, as outlined by law. A very common tort is negligent operation of a motor vehicle that results in property damage and personal injury in an automobile accident.
- Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
- Victim advocate: work with prosecutors and assist the victims of a crime.
(1) The perpetrator illegally entered and illegally remained on the premises at the time the perpetrator’s tortious conduct allegedly caused the harm sustained by a shelter client or other person who is on the premises.
(2) The perpetrator legally entered the premises; a director, owner, trustee, officer, employee, victim advocate, or volunteer of the shelter instructed the perpetrator to leave the premises, and took reasonable steps under the circumstances to cause the perpetrator to leave the premises, before the perpetrator allegedly caused the harm sustained by a shelter client or other person who is on the premises; and, despite those reasonable steps, the perpetrator remained on the premises and committed the tortious conduct that allegedly caused the harm sustained by a shelter client or other person who is on the premises.
(3) The perpetrator legally entered the premises; a director, owner, trustee, officer, employee, victim advocate, or volunteer of the shelter granted the perpetrator permission to remain on the premises after taking either of the following precautionary steps; and, despite taking either of those steps, the perpetrator committed the tortious conduct that allegedly caused the harm sustained by a shelter client or other person who is on the premises:
(a) The director, owner, trustee, officer, employee, victim advocate, or volunteer of the shelter asks a person entering the premises whether the person is related by consanguinity or affinity to or has resided with a shelter client; the person responds that the person is not so related and has not so resided; and the director, owner, trustee, officer, employee, victim advocate, or volunteer, in exercising the reasonable judgment and discretion of a prudent person under similar circumstances, believes that the person is not so related and has not so resided.
(b) The director, owner, trustee, officer, employee, victim advocate, or volunteer of the shelter asks a person entering the premises whether the person is related by consanguinity or affinity to or has resided with a shelter client; the person responds that the person is so related or has so resided; and the director, owner, trustee, officer, employee, victim advocate, or volunteer, in exercising the reasonable judgment and discretion of a prudent person under similar circumstances, determines that granting the person permission to remain on the premises does not appear to pose a threat of harm to a shelter client or other person who is on the premises.
(B) The immunity from tort liability conferred by division (A) of this section is not available to a shelter for victims of domestic violence or a director, owner, trustee, officer, employee, victim advocate, or volunteer of the shelter if the plaintiff in a tort action establishes, by clear and convincing evidence, that a director, owner, trustee, officer, employee, victim advocate, or volunteer of the shelter contributed to the harm sustained by a shelter client or other person who is on the shelter’s premises, by an action or omission that involved malicious purpose, bad faith, or wanton or reckless conduct. For purposes of this division, “reckless conduct” includes the release of confidential information that pertains to a shelter client.