Columbus, OH – The Buckeye Institute secured a victory for David Krizon, Buckeye’s client in Krizon v. Ohio Association of Public School Employees (OAPSE), who had money illegally taken out of his paycheck by his employer and given to a government union. In settling the case, OAPSE acknowledged that Mr. Krizon had quit the union and refunded all the money deducted from his paychecks.

“Despite the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in Janus v. AFSCME, government unions continue to illegally take wages from hardworking public employees,” said Jay R. Carson, senior litigator at The Buckeye Institute and the lead attorney representing Mr. Krizon. “Mr. Krizon’s case is another example in a long list of cases where public employees are forced to go to court to get unions to respect their constitutional rights. And this victory reaffirms the principle that public workers can’t be required to pay dues to unions after they quit the union.”

David Krizon is a bus driver with Minerva Local Schools in Minerva, Ohio. In June 2022, he notified his employer and the Ohio Association of Public School Employees that he was ending his membership in the union, and he requested that his employer stop deducting dues from his paycheck. OAPSE informed Mr. Krizon that his membership resignation was processed, but his request to end dues deduction was rejected, calling it “untimely”—a clear violation of Mr. Krizon’s Janus rights. In August 2022, the school district honored Mr. Krizon’s demand and stopped taking money from his paycheck and giving it to the government union. However, in February 2023—more than six months after the illegal dues deductions had ended—the union representative pressured the district to, once again, take money out of Mr. Krizon’s paycheck and give it to OAPSE. 

The Buckeye Institute sued on Mr. Krizon’s behalf in Stark County Court of Common Pleas to recover wages illegally deducted from his paychecks. The case was settled and dismissed on September 20, 2023.

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