Ohio School Board Sued By Teacher Who Wants To Divert Union Dues To Charity

The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation announced in a press release last week that it had filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of an Ohio elementary school teacher who wants her compulsory union dues diverted to charity because of her religious objections to her union's positions on abortion and gay rights. Kathy Hart, who is an active member of the Catholic Church, teaches in the Coldwater (Ohio) Exempted Village School District. A collective bargaining agreement requires her to pay union fees to the National Education Association (NEA) and its affiliates - the Ohio Education Association (OEA) and the Coldwater Teachers Organization (CTO). The NEA agreed to Hart's request, but the OEA refused to go along. Hart originally filed a religious discrimination complaint with the EEOC, and it authorized her in September to file her own civil suit. (See prior related posting.)