State ex rel. Stewart v. State Employment Relations Board

**What happened:** Stewart, a city employee in Dayton, Ohio, filed complaints claiming his employer and union worked together against him. He alleged they denied him his right to arbitration (a process where workplace disputes are resolved by a neutral third party) and retaliated against him for raising concerns. Stewart brought these unfair labor practice charges to Ohio's State Employment Relations Board (SERB), which investigates workplace violations. **What the court decided:** The Ohio Supreme Court sided with SERB and against Stewart. The court found that SERB acted properly when it dismissed Stewart's complaints, ruling there wasn't enough evidence to show the city and union had actually conspired against him or retaliated. SERB had determined there was no "probable cause" - meaning insufficient evidence to suggest wrongdoing occurred. **Why this matters for workers:** This case shows that workers must provide strong evidence when claiming their employer and union colluded against them. Simply alleging retaliation or denial of rights isn't enough - there must be clear proof these violations actually happened. Workers should document incidents carefully and gather concrete evidence before filing unfair labor practice charges, as courts will uphold dismissals when the evidence doesn't support the claims.