COLUMBUS, Ohio – Current and former Ohio teachers may soon be eligible for a partial refund of the “fair share” dues they have been forced to pay the Ohio Education Association (OEA) as a condition of working in a school where the union has a collective bargaining contract.

OEAOEA and 11 of its local and regional affiliates have agreed to a proposed settlement in Thaxton et al v. OEA et al, a case filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio in mid-2011. The suit stems from a complaint brought by Green Local School District teacher Kathleen Thaxton and 14 other Ohio teachers.

“All Plaintiffs are not members of Defendants or their local affiliates, but are required to pay forced fees to their exclusive bargaining representative and its affiliates,” the July 5, 2012 amended complaint explained.

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According to the plaintiffs, OEA provides inadequate financial statements and uses mandatory fees taken from non-members for impermissible purposes including political activity, union organizing, and public relations.

The union initially sought to dismiss the teachers’ complaint, but the parties have since worked out a settlement agreement that could result in hundreds of teachers being issued partial refunds of OEA fees dating back to the 2009-2010 school year.

“After conducting arm’s-length negotiations and engaging in a court-ordered settlement conference, Plaintiffs and Defendants have reached a fair, reasonable, and adequate settlement in this class-action,” the parties wrote in an August 14, 2013 motion summarizing nearly a year of mediated negotiations.

A proposed order to certify the settlement class was submitted on August 13, and defined two classes who would be eligible for refunds from OEA or its affiliates.

Pending court approval, the first class would include “all non-union member employees who at any time since the 2009-2010 school year (and through any future school years while this action is pending) were required to pay a fee to Defendant Ohio Education Association” and who “either objected to Defendant Ohio Education Association in order to receive a fee rebate/reduction or actually received the fee rebate/reduction[.]”

This would include current Ohio teachers who submit an objection to OEA’s “fair share” dues before the court approves the settlement.

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The second class would include “all non-union member employees” who have been “required to pay a fee to any of the non-Ohio Education Association Defendants sued in this action” since the 2009-2010 school year.

The following OEA affiliates are named in the suit:

  • Capital District of Ohio Education Association
  • Columbus Education Association
  • Central OEA/NEA
  • East Central Ohio Education Association
  • Eastern Ohio Education Association
  • North Central Ohio Education Association
  • North Eastern Ohio Education Association
  • Northwestern Ohio Education Association
  • Southeastern Ohio Education Association
  • Southwestern Ohio Education Association
  • Western Ohio Education Association

The union has also indicated it will pay up to $175,000 in plaintiffs’ attorney fees.

“The parties are currently waiting for the district court judge to rule as to whether he will approve the settlement agreement as well as certify the proposed settlement class,” National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation Staff Attorney Nathan McGrath told Media Trackers.

“At this time, no rulings pertaining to the settlement class or settlement issue have been made and we do not have an expected decision date.”

“The settlement agreement is the result of many hours and several months of negotiating between the parties,” McGrath explained.

“Plaintiffs are agreeable to the proposed settlement terms because they believe that those terms provide a fair and reasonable result for the objectives they sought in this lawsuit by (1) obtaining restitution for plaintiffs and the proposed class members for alleged past violations to their constitutional rights by Defendants and (2) will cause Defendants to modify their procedures as they relate to the calculation of the reduced fee payer amount in the future.”

“The terms of the settlement agreement would apply to all bargaining unit nonmembers through August 31, 2040,” he added.

Costly class-action settlements are nothing new for Ohio’s most powerful labor union. In 2010, OEA settled with retirees whose health benefits OEA had cut several years earlier, agreeing to pay $3.75 million.

Authored by Jason Hart – Media Trackers