Poland teacher seeking restitution for alleged unjustly charged union dues

According to a news release from The Buckeye Institute, the institute is helping to represent a Poland teacher who alleges that the union has unjustly charged her union dues after she has left the union.

According to a filing through the Mahoning County Court of Common Pleas, the lawsuit is brought on behalf of Beth Queen.

Queen has been teaching at Poland Seminary High School for 26 years according to the release from The Buckeye Institute.

The lawsuit, according to the filing, includes several defendants, including the National Education Association, the Ohio Education Association and the Poland Education Association, collectively known as "the Union".

According to the filing, Queen left the Union in February of 2025. However, the Union continues to charge membership dues even after she had terminated her membership.

Queen has demanded, several times, that the Union stop the automatic charging of union dues to her credit card and to refund the amount already taken after she had terminated her membership, according to the filing.

According to the filing, the Union has continued to charge membership dues, claiming that it is authorized to do so based upon the terms of a membership and dues deduction card that Queen had singed in 2005.

The lawsuit alleges that the terms in the 2005 membership and dues deduction card is made invalid due to the fact that she is no longer a member of the Union.

Additionally, the filing states that Queen took an unpaid leave of absence from her employment from the end of 2021 until 2023.

This leave of absence, according to the court filing, terminated Queen's membership and authorization for the Union to continue charging dues, if it was still the operative agreement at the time.

According to the release, the goal of the lawsuit is to order the Union to:

• Stop charging Queen's credit card for union dues
• Refund the money taken after she quit the government union
• Issue an injunction to prevent further membership dues charges to her credit card
• Award Queen's court costs

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