Appeals court rejects school classified employee’s union-dues appeal

The Seventh District Court of Appeals has affirmed a Carroll County Common Pleas Court decision involving a former classified employee of the Carrollton school district.

In an 18-page opinion, the Appeals Court upheld the dismissal of a complaint filed Jan. 17, 2025, by Matthew Sheldon of 3019 Steubenville Road, Carrollton. Sheldon sought a declaratory judgment and injunctive relief regarding his attempt to withdraw from his union and stop the continued deduction of union dues from his paycheck after his departure from the union.

The trial court ruled on the case April 25, 2025, when Common Pleas Judge Michael V. Repella II determined the court lacked jurisdiction to hear the complaint and granted a motion by the Ohio Association of Public School Employees to dismiss.

The court also noted Sheldon had raised “several competing claims for relief in an attempt to skirt the jurisdictional requirements of the Ohio Revised Code.”

Sheldon filed an appeal May 7, 2025, on six counts involving the Ohio Association of Public School Employees and the State Employment Relations Board, all of which were deemed moot by the Appeals Court.

The Appeals Court further found the union contract included a designated window during which an employee could rescind authorization for dues deductions. Sheldon did not act within that window, leading the union to instruct the school district to continue deducting dues.

Sheldon has since resigned from his position with the Carroll Exempted Village School District.