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Krizon v. OAPSE |
For media inquiries, please contact:
Lisa Gates, vice president of communications
(614) 224-3255 or Lisa@BuckeyeInstitute.org
Resolution to the Case
The Buckeye Institute secured a victory for David Krizon with the government union—the Ohio Association of Public School Employees (OAPSE)— acknowledging that Mr. Krizon had quit the union and refunding all the money deducted from his paychecks. The case was dismissed on September 20, 2023.
Background on the Case
Key Questions in the Case: Can a union continue to collect dues for the duration of the union contract from people who have quit the union and are no longer members? Can a union limit how and when a member may quit the union and impose a penalty for leaving?
On June 27, 2018, the United States Supreme Court issued its landmark ruling in Janus v. AFSCME, holding that public employees cannot be forced to support political speech or other activities without their affirmative consent. This opinion reinforced the law regarding public employees’ rights to avoid compelled payments to the unions chosen to represent them.
Despite the historic court decision, many government unions have refused to recognize workers’ Janus rights and have continued to illegally take money from public employees’ paychecks—employees whom the unions have acknowledged have quit the union and are no longer union members. Using a legal sleight-of-hand to claim that workers can quit their union only during specified opt-out windows that may be months or even years in the future, government unions claim that they can keep taking money from workers’ paychecks regardless of their status as non-union members.
These unions are violating the First Amendment rights of hardworking public employees and claiming that the employees signed a contract authorizing the unions to keep deducting membership dues from their paychecks even after they are no longer union members. Ohio’s law does not allow this unethical practice, and it is time for the court to tell the unions and the government to stop illegally taking money from workers’ paychecks.
About Buckeye’s Clients
In June 2022, David Krizon, a bus driver with the Minerva Local Schools in Minerva, Ohio, notified his employers and the Ohio Association of Public School Employees (OAPSE)—the government union—in writing that he was ending his membership in the union and requested that they stop deducting dues from his paycheck. OAPSE informed Mr. Krizon that his membership resignation was processed but that his request to end dues deduction was rejected, calling it “untimely”—a clear violation of Mr. Krizon’s First Amendment Janus rights.
What the union did not tell Mr. Krizon was that the union required him to request an end to dues deduction during a limited 10-day window between August 22 and August 31. The union went one step further and sent a letter to the school district instructing them to continue taking money out of Mr. Krizon’s paycheck and giving it to OAPSE. And if that wasn’t bad enough, the union representative called Mr. Krizon and told him he had to continue paying dues for the following year. The union representative never mentioned the union’s arbitrary 10-day opt-out window.
Knowing that unions often make it difficult for public employees to end dues deductions, a representative of the Freedom Foundation—who Mr. Krizon was in contact with—sent two copies of Mr. Krizon’s withdrawal form to OAPSE via FedEx certified delivery and United States Postal Service certified mail. The letter sent via FedEx was signed for on August 22, 2022—within the union’s arbitrary opt-out window. The school district also received a copy of the withdrawal form and—as required—stopped taking money out of Mr. Krizon’s paycheck.
Despite meeting OAPSE’s illegal opt-out window requirement, the government union was still intent on illegally taking wages from Mr. Krizon’s paycheck. In February 2023—more than six months after the illegal dues deductions had ended—the union representative went to the district superintendent and demanded that Mr. Krizon attend a meeting where the union representative claimed Mr. Krizon had not rescinded his authorization during the proper 10-day window (the first time the union rep. informed Mr. Krizon of a 10-day opt-out window) and that he must continue paying union dues. In mid-February, the school treasurer informed Mr. Krizon that under pressure from the union, the district would begin, once again, taking money out of Mr. Krizon’s paycheck and giving it to OAPSE.
Facts of the Case
Current Status
OAPSE refunded all the money deducted from Mr. Krizon’s paychecks and the case was dismissed.
Case Number
2023 CV 01351
Originally Filed
July 31, 2023
Original Court
Stark County Court of Common Pleas
Lawyers
David C. Tryon, director of litigation, The Buckeye Institute
Jay R. Carson, senior litigator, The Buckeye Institute
Claims in the Case
Deducting union membership dues from the paychecks of workers who have quit their unions violates their First Amendment rights and is illegal because the “contract” between the unions and the employees has been rescinded or voided. This assertion is based on Ohio contract law, specifically the doctrines of rescission based on mutual repudiation, mutual mistake, unenforceable penalty, unconscionable contracts of adhesion, and unjust enrichment.
The Buckeye Institute’s client is asking for damages in the amount of the union membership dues taken from him after he quit the union, and he is requesting an injunction to prevent further union membership dues deductions from his paycheck.
Timeline of the Case
September 20, 2023
Krizon v. OAPSE is dismissed after the government union acknowledged that Mr. Krizon had quit the union and refunded all the money deducted from his paychecks.
July 31, 2023
The Buckeye Institute files Krizon v. OAPSE in the Stark County Court of Common Pleas.
