National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys helped Michigan care providers challenge union dues scheme

Washington, DC (April 4, 2016) – The United States Supreme Court has declined to hear Schlaud v. UAW, a class-action lawsuit filed by five Michigan childcare providers who hoped to reclaim millions of dollars in illegally-confiscated union dues for thousands of their fellow caregivers.

Plaintiffs Carrie Schlaud, Diana Orr, Peggy Mashke, and Edward and Nora Gross receive a small subsidy from the State of Michigan to provide home-based childcare services. The five plaintiffs also received free legal assistance from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys.

Schlaud and her co-plaintiffs originally filed a federal class-action lawsuit against former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm and the CCPTM union for designating home-based childcare providers who receive state funds as “public employees” in order to force them to accept the CCPTM’s “representation” and pay union dues. The plaintiffs reached a settlement with Governor Rick Snyder that ensured that Michigan would no longer force home-based childcare providers into union ranks. However, the providers’ lawsuit was denied class-action status by the lower courts. Consequently, CCPTM union officials were not required to refund $4 million in forced union dues previously collected from over 50,000 other care providers.

In the Foundation’s 2014 Harris v. Quinn Supreme Court victory, the court ruled that homecare unionization schemes like the one in Michigan violate providers’ First Amendment rights. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court’s denial of certiorari in Schlaud means that the union will not have to return the fees confiscated in violation of the Constitution to thousands of Michigan care providers.

“We are disappointed that the Supreme Court has declined to hear Schlaud v. UAW,” said Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “Unwilling Michigan childcare providers were pushed into union ranks as part of a backroom political deal between union officials and former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm. Despite the fact that union bosses were caught red-handed violating the constitutional rights of childcare providers, tens of thousands of caregivers will not be given a chance to reclaim money that was illegally seized by the union.”

The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation is a nonprofit, charitable organization providing free legal aid to employees whose human or civil rights have been violated by compulsory unionism abuses. The Foundation, which can be contacted toll-free at 1-800-336-3600, assists thousands of employees in about 200 cases nationwide per year.