Columbus, OH – On Thursday, The Buckeye Institute filed a lawsuit on behalf of Matthew Sheldon of Carrollton, Ohio demanding that the government union—the Ohio Association of Public School Employees (OAPSE)/American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), Local 541—stop its illegal wage theft and return the money it took out of Mr. Sheldon’s paycheck after he quit the union. Sheldon v. OAPSE was filed in Carroll County Court of Common Pleas.

“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,” said Jay R. Carson, senior litigator at The Buckeye Institute. “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.” 

Matthew Sheldon has kept the schools in Carrollton Exempted Village Schools clean for students and teachers for nearly 10 years. His job is too often a thankless one, but Mr. Sheldon has served with dedication and commitment. In December 2023, after nearly a decade as a member of the government union, Mr. Sheldon chose to exercise his 1st Amendment Janus rights and quit the government union and instructed the union to stop taking money out of his paycheck. 

The union’s response…nothing for more than four months. Then, in April 2024, the government union belatedly honored Mr. Sheldon’s request and stopped taking money out of his paycheck but resumed its illegal wage theft in May 2024, inexplicably at the same time OAPSE acknowledged that Mr. Sheldon had the right to quit the union. Apparently—according to union officials—he had the right to quit the government union but did not have the right to stop the union from taking money out of his paycheck. Despite repeated efforts to stop the automatic deduction of union membership dues from his paycheck, OAPSE has refused in violation of Ohio contract law. 

In Sheldon v. OAPSE, The Buckeye Institute is asking the court to order the government union to:
Stop taking money out of Mr. Sheldon’s paycheck;
Refund money taken from him after he quit the government union; 
Issue an injunction to prevent further union membership dues deductions from his paycheck; and
Declare that Ohio courts have jurisdiction in union contract dispute cases.

Stay up-to-date on Sheldon v. OAPSE at BuckeyeInstitute.org/SheldonvOAPSE.

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