On March 13, the Liberty Justice Center announced a win for workers’ rights as an Ohio union agreed to stop withholding dues from a school district employee who had been forced to pay them in violation of her First Amendment rights.
On February 20, the Liberty Justice Center filed a lawsuit against the Ohio Association of Public School Employees on behalf of Denise Cogar, a school district employee who quit the union in 2022 and stopped having dues deducted from her paychecks—only to be told four months later that the union had made a mistake and would start taking dues from her again.
Because the union had confirmed that Ms. Cogar was a non-member and informed the school district to stop withholding dues from her paychecks, the union had a legal obligation to secure, and the district had a legal obligation confirm, her “affirmative consent” before taking dues from her again. By taking dues without her consent, the district and the union violated her First Amendment rights under the 2018 Supreme Court decision Janus v. AFSCME.
Following the Liberty Justice Center’s lawsuit, the Ohio Association of Public School Employees agreed to stop withholding dues from Ms. Cogar’s paycheck and to refund the dues that had been taken after the union accepted her resignation.
“It shouldn’t have taken a federal lawsuit, but we are pleased that the union has chosen to respect Denise’s First Amendment rights,” said Jeffrey Schwab, Senior Counsel at the Liberty Justice Center.
“Taking money from my paycheck—when I wasn’t a union member and hadn’t paid dues for four months—was unfair and unconstitutional,” said plaintiff Denise Cogar. “But because the Liberty Justice Center stepped in to defend me, I got back my money and my rights.”
The Liberty Justice Center continues to defend constitutional rights across the country and stands ready to challenge union policies that violate workers’ First Amendment rights.
The Liberty Justice Center’s case filings in Cogar v. Ohio Association of Public School Employees are available here.