Columbus, OH – On Wednesday, The Buckeye Institute filed its brief asking the Ohio Supreme Court to accept jurisdiction in DuPuis v. American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), and either hold it pending the court’s decision in Sheldon v. Ohio Association of Public School Employees (OAPSE) or consolidate it with Sheldon—one of The Buckeye Institute’s other cases seeking to end union wage theft practices that is pending Ohio Supreme Court review.

“In Sheldon, Vanderveer, and DuPuis, only the Ohio Supreme Court can decide whether Ohio’s courthouse doors are open to Ohioans wishing to bring cases to stop union wage theft,” said Jay R. Carson, senior litigator at The Buckeye Institute and the attorney representing Buckeye’s clients in these union wage theft cases. 

In its appeal of DuPuis v. AFSCME, The Buckeye Institute argues that only the Ohio Supreme Court can resolve the jurisdictional dispute between lower courts, which have ruled it is the exclusive jurisdiction of the State Employment Relations Board (SERB) to decide these cases, and SERB, which says these questions do not raise an unfair labor practice, without making it clear if it is asserting jurisdiction or not. Resolving this important question will reduce needless litigation by clarifying for lower courts and SERB which body must hear these claims. 

The Buckeye Institute further argues that the Ohio Supreme Court’s decision in Ohio Council 8, AFSCME, AFL-CIO v. Lakewood, unambiguously affirmed that Ohio’s Public Employee Collective Bargaining Act does not strip courts of their jurisdiction over private contractual disputes, and that the Ohio Constitution’s Open Courts Provision requires the courthouse doors to be opened to Ohioans with these claims.

On July 7, 2026, the Ohio Supreme Court granted The Buckeye Institute’s request and accepted jurisdiction in Vanderveer v. OAPSE. The court will hold the case pending its decision in Sheldon v. OAPSE.

To stay up-to-date on DuPuis v. AFSCME at BuckeyeInstitute.org/DuPuisvAFSCME. 

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