A school union continued to deduct dues from a school custodian’s paycheck, even after the employee quit the union because, in part, he objected to its “political advocacy.”
Now, Matthew Sheldon of Carrollton, backed by the Columbus-based Buckeye Institute, is suing the union, demanding that it stop “illegal wage theft.”
Sheldon works as a custodian for Carrollton Exempted Village Schools, which has employed him for nearly 10 years. Sheldon signed a dues-deduction authorization card in August 2016, but in December 2023, he quit the Ohio Association of Public School Employees/American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Local 541.
Sheldon told the union to stop taking money from his paycheck when he quit. The union briefly obliged and stopped deducting dues in April 2024 and May 2024.
However, it resumed taking wages from his paycheck in May 2024 “while at the same time not providing services beyond those … the law requires to all members of the bargaining unit, regardless of their membership status,” according to the lawsuit
In a May 8 letter to Sheldon that was filed with the lawsuit, OAPSE acknowledged that Sheldon had the right to quit the union. However, the union said Sheldon did not have the right to stop the union from taking money out of his paycheck.
“You should also be aware that your request to have dues deduction authorization cancelled does not satisfy the requirements set forth on the membership application you signed,” the union wrote in the letter.
Despite repeated efforts to stop the automatic deduction of union membership dues from his paycheck, OAPSE has refused, which the Buckeye Institute said violates Ohio contract law.
Sheldon and the Buckeye Institute also want the union to return the earnings the union took from his paycheck after he quit. The Buckeye Institute charged that the union has been “unjustly enriched” by continuing to collect dues.
Sheldon and the Buckeye Institute cite a 2018 Supreme Court ruling, Janus v. AFSCME. In the decision, justices ruled limiting the window to stop paying mandatory union dues is an illegal restriction on First Amendment rights.
“Plaintiff opposed and continues to oppose paying union membership dues because Plaintiff is no longer a member of the Union and because Plaintiff disagrees with the Union’s political advocacy and collective-bargaining activities,” the lawsuit reads. “Like the plaintiff in Janus, Plaintiff has been compelled by law and by their public employers’ continued deduction of union membership dues from their paychecks to provide monetary support for speech with which they disagree.
“Before the Janus decision, Plaintiff had no meaningful choice regarding whether to support the Union financially,” the suit adds. “Plaintiff was required to fund the union either through union membership dues or fair share fees. Upon information and belief, Plaintiff reluctantly joined the
Union in August of 2016.”
In addition to returning the dues it took from Sheldon’s paycheck, Sheldon and the Buckeye Institute want the court to order the union to issue an injunction to prevent further union membership dues deductions from Sheldon’s paycheck and declare that Ohio courts have jurisdiction in union contract dispute cases.
“It is unconscionable that more than six years after the U.S. Supreme Court issued its landmark Janus ruling, government unions continue to use a legal sleight of hand to deny hardworking public employees their First Amendment rights,” Jay R. Carson, senior litigator at The Buckeye Institute, said in a statement. “All Mr. Sheldon wants is for OAPSE to stop stealing money from his paycheck and return the money illegally taken since he quit the union. For honorable people and organizations, these are reasonable requests.”
The Columbus think tank filed Sheldon v. OAPSE lawsuit in Carroll County Court of Common Pleas.
