Columbus, OH – On Tuesday, The Buckeye Institute filed its appeal of a State Employment Relations Board (SERB) decision in Littlejohn v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). In its filing with the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas, The Buckeye Institute called on the court to tell the government and its unions to stop illegally taking money out of the paychecks of employees who have quit the union. 

“The government union claims that Ms. Littlejohn signed a contract authorizing the union to keep deducting membership dues from her paycheck even after she quit the union,” said Jay R. Carson, senior litigator at The Buckeye Institute and an attorney representing Ms. Littlejohn. “Ohio law simply does not allow this unethical sleight-of-hand, and it is time for the courts to tell the unions and the government to stop illegally taking money from workers’ paychecks.”

In other cases—including Buckeye’s Darling v. AFSCME—government unions have argued, and courts have ruled that these types of union wage theft cases are under the jurisdiction of the State Employment Relations Board. The Buckeye Institute disagreed. Necole Littlejohn, Buckeye’s client, willingly filed her complaint with SERB, and as expected, SERB dismissed the charge without addressing the contractual issues. The Buckeye Institute has appealed this question of jurisdiction to the Ohio Supreme Court.

In June 2022, Necole Littlejohn, a hospital employee with the city of Cincinnati, notified her employer and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), Ohio Council 8 of the AFL-CIO, that she was resigning from the government union. The union accepted her resignation but refused—and continues to refuse—to stop stealing wages from Ms. Littlejohn’s paycheck.

Stay up to date on Littlejohn v. AFSCME at BuckeyeInstitute.org/LittlejohnvAFSCME. 

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