Cleveland.com
AKRON, Ohio — Akron firefighter Timothy Semelsberg was fired for living outside the city in 2006. Wednesday he won a unanimous verdict in Ohio’s Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that could lead him to over $250,000 in paychecks the city denied him before a Supreme Court ruled the city’s residency requirement illegal.
Akron attorney Warner Mendenhall, who has represented Semelsberg, said the firefighter lost his Akron home to foreclosure while the city engaged in two rounds of appeals.
In 2006 the Ohio legislature passed a law prohibiting city governments from imposing residency requirements, and while Akron was one of many cities challenging the law in court, the city fired Semelsberg for moving to South Arlington Road, just outside the city limits in Coventry.
Full story: Akron firefighter wins $251,000 in back pay after he was fired for moving outside city limits