Columbus, OH – Robert Alt, president and chief executive officer of The Buckeye Institute, issued the following statement after the Supreme Court of the United States announced it had denied cert in Thompson v. Marietta Education Association, which called for an immediate end to laws that force public-sector employees to accept a union’s exclusive representation.

“Unfortunately, the Supreme Court passed on the opportunity to hear Mrs. Thompson’s case and resolve the conflict noted by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, which stated that Ohio’s ‘take-it-or-leave-it system’ of exclusive representation directly conflicts with the principles announced in Janus v. AFSCME. Despite today’s decision, the high court will have other opportunities to rule on the important question of forced union exclusive representation and recognize the First Amendment Rights of public employees across the country.”

The Buckeye Institute was the first organization to file lawsuits calling on courts to end compelled exclusive representation following the Janus decision, and was representing Mrs. Thompson. The Buckeye Institute is also representing Professor Kathy Uradnik of Minnesota whose case is pending in the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.

A public high school Spanish teacher in Marietta, Ohio, Mrs. Thompson’s case was initially filed on June 27, 2018, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, with its motion for preliminary injunction filed on July 23, 2018. The case was appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit on February 18, 2020. The Buckeye Institute filed its petition for writ of certiorari with the United States Supreme Court on January 22, 2021. Cert was denied on June 7, 2021.

Mrs. Thompson’s Piece in The Columbus Dispatch: Marietta teacher tells her union ‘¡No más!’
 

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