Ohio Board Must Hear Union Dues Spat, Not Courts, Ruling Says

Ohio’s employment relations board has sole authority to hear a dispute over union dues paid by a former member, a state appeals court ruled Wednesday.

This is for two reasons, the Cincinnati-based Ohio Court of Appeals, First District said. For one, Necole Littlejohn first filed an unfair labor practice charge against the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, Ohio Council 8 with the State Employment Relations Board. After that was unsuccessful, she filed an “identical complaint” in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court, the appeals court said.

But judges can’t issue declaratory judgments after the board is asked ...