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Chandler v. OAPSE |
For media inquiries, please contact:
Lisa Gates, vice president of communications
(614) 224-3255 or Lisa@BuckeyeInstitute.org
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 place limitations on when and how a member may leave 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 take money from public employees’ paychecks—employees whom the unions themselves have acknowledged have quit the union and are, therefore, no longer union members. Using a legal sleight-of-hand to claim that workers can quit the government union, but they must keep paying union dues until they request to opt-out, which they can do only during a specified opt-out window that may be months or even years in the future, government unions claim that they can keep taking money from workers’ paychecks regardless of the fact that these workers are not members of the union.
These government unions claim that the employees—in this case, Kevin Chandler, Amy Clark, and Charles C. Perry, Jr.—signed contracts authorizing the unions to keep deducting membership dues from their paychecks even after they are no longer members of the union. Ohio’s law simply does not allow this unethical practice, and it is time for the court to tell the unions and the government that their practices are illegal and that they must stop taking money from workers’ paychecks.
To make matters worse, the courts tell workers that they need to file these cases with the State Employment Relations Board (SERB), and SERB tells workers that they have no jurisdiction in contract disputes and that workers need to file these cases in court. This Catch-22 leaves Ohio’s hardworking public employees with nowhere to go to recoup money taken out of their paychecks once the employees tell the unions to stop taking their money.
In Chandler v. OAPSE, The Buckeye Institute is asking the court to order the government unions to:
- Stop taking money out of Mr. Chandler and Mrs. Clark’s paychecks;
- Issue an injunction to prevent further union membership dues deductions from their paychecks;
- Refund money taken from Mr. Chandler, Mrs. Clark, and Mr. Perry after they quit the government unions;
- Award them costs and attorneys’ fees; and
- Declare whether SERB or Ohio courts have jurisdiction in union contract dispute cases.
About Buckeye’s Clients
As a bus driver for Perry Local Schools, Kevin Chandler ensures that the students who ride his bus arrive at school safely in the mornings and home again in the afternoons. Mr. Chandler does this job every weekday without fanfare and with little thanks. After a year in the government union, Mr. Chandler decided it wasn’t for him. On April 25, 2024, he resigned his membership in the Ohio Association of Public School Employees (OAPSE) and asked the union to stop taking money out of his paycheck. He heard nothing until September 2024, when the union informed Mr. Chandler that they recognized he had quit the union, but they would still take his money regardless.
Amy Clark is a bus aide with Perry Local Schools, where she helps ensure that students are safe on the bus and that the bus driver can concentrate on the road. While unglamorous, Mrs. Clark’s job is vital to ensuring the bus driver is not distracted and that students arrive at school and back home again safely. After five years in the government union, Mrs. Clark quit OAPSE in August 2024, and as with Mr. Chandler, was informed in September 2024 that the union recognized she quit. Still, they would continue taking hard-earned money from Mrs. Clark’s paycheck.
Charles C. Perry, Jr. is a technician with the Stark Area Regional Transit Authority, where he ensures the city’s buses are safe, well-maintained, and properly running. Mr. Perry’s job ensures that thousands of Stark County residents safely get where they need to be, whether that be their job, home, place of worship, grocery store, school, or just an evening out at the movies. Disappointed with the government union’s political positions, Mr. Perry notified the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) on August 27, 2024, that he had resigned his membership. As with OAPSE, AFSCME officials refused to stop taking money from Mr. Perry’s paycheck until December 2024, even though they acknowledged that he was no longer a government union member.
Facts of the Case
Current Status
Stark County Court of Common Pleas
Originally Filed
March 26, 2025
Case Number
2025CV00690
Lawyers
Jay R. Carson, senior litigator, The Buckeye Institute
David C. Tryon, director of litigation, The Buckeye Institute
J. Simon Peter Mizner, legal fellow, The Buckeye Institute
Claims in the Case
Deducting union membership dues from the paychecks of a worker who has quit the union is illegal because the “contract” between the union and the employee was rescinded or voided. This assertion is based upon Ohio contract law, specifically the doctrines of recission based on mutual repudiation, mutual mistake, unenforceable penalty, unconscionable contracts of adhesion, and unjust enrichment.
The Buckeye Institute’s clients are asking for damages in the amount of the union membership dues taken from them after they quit the government union, and they are requesting an injunction to prevent further union membership dues deductions from their paychecks. The Buckeye Institute also asks the court to declare whether SERB or Ohio courts have jurisdiction in union contract dispute cases.
Related Cases
Littlejohn v. AFSCME
Sheldon v. OAPSE
Swanner v. OAPSE
Timeline of the Case
March 26, 2025
The Buckeye Institute files Chandler v. OAPSE in Stark County Court of Common Pleas.
