Until January 23, 2023, Christopher Lutz was a member of the Moraine Professional Firefighters, IAFF Local 2981.
The allocation of overtime shifts for members of the Local was governed by a detailed system outlined in the CBA. The Local maintained an “Overtime Equalization Chart” for lieutenants, where members were ranked based on “charged hours.” Officers with the fewest hours were at the top of the list and received the first opportunity to accept or decline overtime as it became available. This system was designed to ensure fairness and equal opportunity among the ranks.
On January 23, 2023, Lutz resigned his Local membership. For several weeks, the overtime process continued normally. The pivotal event occurred at the Local’s bi-monthly membership meeting on March 9, 2023. The members discussed Lutz’s resignation and voted to add 5,000 hours to his total charged hours on the overtime chart. The Local later testified this was done because its leadership believed, based on a misunderstanding of the Janus decision, that non-members were required to be placed at the bottom of the list alongside probationary employees. This action was taken without any consultation with legal counsel.
The practical effect was catastrophic for Lutz’s overtime prospects. He was immediately dropped to twentieth place out of twenty-two employees, with most of those ahead of him being probationary employees, effectively guaranteeing he would not be offered overtime for a very long time. Lutz filed an unfair labor practice charge. Only after he filed the charge and the Local consulted with an attorney did it realize its error. The Local promptly removed the 5,000-hour penalty on April 4, 2023, and requested Lutz drop the charge.
An ALJ of the Statement Employment Relations Board of Ohio ruled that the Local committed an unfair labor practice, breaching its duty of fair representation. SERB adopted the ALJ’s Proposed Order without substantive discussion.
The ALJ’s analysis concluded that “the [Local] failed to demonstrate a rational basis for its approach. I further find that the [Local’s] actions discriminated against [Lutz] based upon an irrelevant consideration, i.e. his status as a non-member of the employee organization.” The ALJ applied the established standard that a union violates its duty through conduct that is “arbitrary, discriminatory, or in bad faith.” While acknowledging that local unions are run by laypersons and not legal experts, the ALJ still found the action arbitrary, as there was no legitimate, rational basis in the contract or law for penalizing a non-member’s overtime standing. It was also plainly discriminatory, as the adverse action was taken solely because Lutz withdrew from the Local.
Moraine Professional Firefighters, IAFF Local 2981, 43 OPER ¶ 25 (OPER 2025).