Blade Editorial: Lawfare reaches state of Ohio
- ORTA
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
The conclusion of testimony against two board members of the State Teachers Retirement System, Wade Steen and Rudy Fichtenbaum, leads us to believe that the case is full of holes and should not have been brought in the first place.
Indeed, this case of alleged corruption was already investigated by the Ohio Ethics Commission and never resulted in charges.
Why Attorney General David Yost brought the case might have more to do with state politics and resistance in Columbus to any attempt at reforming the STRS system of investing teachers’ pension contributions.
The state’s case alleging corruption by former STRS member Mr. Steen and current STRS board chairman Mr. Fichtenbaum took all of last week on the docket of Franklin County Common Pleas Court Judge Karen Phipps.
The AG claims that Mr. Steen and Mr. Fichtenbaum violated their fiduciary duty to STRS beneficiaries by attempting to involve a Columbus investment startup with undisclosed ties to the pair.
Judge Phipps awaits written closing arguments from each side and will make a decision thereafter.
Mr. Steen and Mr. Fichtenbaum in 2021 communicated with QED in support of a $250 million trial of an investment strategy pioneered by the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan as a method to restore the cost of living adjustment STRS beneficiaries had gone without because of insufficient investment success. Their error was in communicating in secret.
It was also unwise to discuss a $65 billion investment as the amount necessary for restoration of COLA.
STRS staff leadership, aware of the off-camera discussions, repeatedly tried to get an Ethics Commission finding against the pair. They failed. But STRS staff was highly successful in raising suspicion over the motivation, using the theoretical $65 billion as the basis for charges the policy proposal was reckless.
There is no financial link between Mr. Steen, Mr. Fichtenbaum, and QED. Toledo lawyers Norman Abood and Richard Kerger, representing the STRS defendants, made the case that it’s not against the law to get advice.
Mr. Steen and a QED principal, former Ohio Deputy Treasurer and Ohio Public Employee Retirement System board member Seth Metcalf, are friends from the same church. While their communication was unusual and therefore unwise, the case is in civil rather than criminal court because Mr. Steen and Mr. Fichtenbaum had no motivation beyond improving STRS’ investment returns. Neither has shown personal enrichment.
The state’s case arose against the pair only after STRS reform board members won a majority of the STRS board seats, with the support of active and retired teachers. Since then, reform members have made no progress in implementing their reforms, and it is a reasonable guess that they have been intimidated from that goal by this prosecution.
The legal expenses of Mr. Steen and Mr. Fichtenbaum are largely funded through donations from teachers, pension beneficiaries who would be the victims of actual corruption, because they believe the state is persecuting through this prosecution.
The state says it is just trying protect teachers’ money, but the teachers’ overwhelming support for Mr. Steen and Mr. Fichtenbaum would not occur if they were even close to being corrupt.
Toledo Blade Editorial Board November 7, 2025
ORTA is continuing to collect donations for our Pension Defense Fund to pay for the ongoing lawsuit brought against current Board Chair Rudy Fichtenbaum and former Board member Wade Steen by Ohio AG Yost.
ORTA needs your help. Please make a donation to the Pension Defense Fund to help pay legal fees to defend and protect our pension and retirement benefits from current and future legal attacks.
We are seeking 1,000 members to contribute $10 per month to the fund. This would enable us to pay attorney fees and rebuild the Pension Defense Fund.
