Miami’s head negotiator indicted in illegal bar scheme

Jazmyn Barrow-Stover, the head of Miami University’s negotiating team on the faculty side and hired outside lawyer, faced indictment on Tuesday of one count of tampering with records in an illegal bar scheme taking place throughout Cuyahoga County.

The university is represented by Ogletree Deakins, an Ohio law firm with experience in the field of labor relations, in its negotiations with Miami’s faculty union, the Faculty Alliance of Miami (FAM).

The case involves eight other offenders and 44 other indictments connected to a string of illegally owned and operated bars, according to Cleveland 19 News. The illegal purchases included six bars on the east side of Cuyahoga County and ended up generating nearly $4 million in illegal profits, which was uncovered by the Ohio Investigative Unit and the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office.

“The investigation uncovered a scheme in which ‘straw’ owners began to purchase bars illegally as early as 2019, using illegal proceeds to continue to purchase more bars over a period of several years,” the Prosecutor’s Office wrote in a press release.

Barrow-Stover stepped away from negotiating for the university and is on leave from the first while she works through the situation.

Ogletree Deakins alerted Miami University of the matter involving Barrow-Stover the same day the indictment was issued. Barrow has denied the allegations and said that this is a misunderstanding, according to Miami’s Senior Director of Communications Seth Bauguess.

“Nevertheless, to continue the university’s forward progress in these negotiations, Ogletree Deakins continues to represent the university,” Bauguess wrote in a statement to The Miami Student.

Jenn Betts, a shareholder of Ogletree’s office and a member of the firm’s steering committee for its labor group, will step in to serve as the university’s lead negotiator at the January sessions, and Ogletree’s Brittany Brantley will continue to be part of the representation team.

In a statement, FAM said that they hope this doesn’t further delay negotiations.

“We hope that this latest change to the university’s negotiating team will not cause even further delays,” the statement said. “We are committed to working out a fair contract as soon as possible, and we demand that the university makes a good-faith and timely effort to work with us…”

patelou@miamioh.edu

reieram@miamioh.edu