A nonprofit legal foundation that helped in the Supreme Court case against forced public union dues is threatening comptrollers and public payroll departments across the nation with lawsuits if they continue to take union dues from the paychecks of non-union members.
Last month’s Supreme Court ruling in the Janus v. AFSCME case made it illegal for public unions to take what’s been called “fair-share fees” from non-union members as a condition of their employment. This Friday is the first payday that state and local workers who opted out of the union should see their bigger paychecks without those fees deducted.
If they’re not, National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation vice president Patrick Semmens said public officials are opening themselves up to costly lawsuits.
“They have an obligation to follow the Constitution,” he said. “When they fail to do so, they could find themselves getting served with a lawsuit.”
In anticipation of a ruling in favor of Janus, some unions put in place parameters that members would have to follow to successfully leave the union. For instance, one Washington-based union only allows their members to opt-out within 15 days of their anniversary of joining. The Supreme Court ruling made clear, Semmens said, about the opt-in nature of its ruling.
“The First Amendment cannot be limited to one week a year,” he said.
Semmens’ organization has hired more lawyers in expectation of a number of legal battles against unions and public officials that resist following the letter of the decision.
Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza said on the day of the ruling that she doesn’t agree with the decision but would make sure the state complies.