Federal Judge Certifies Class-Action Lawsuit Challenging Forced Fees for California Civil Servants
Lawsuit builds on Knox Supreme Court decision, seeks to require unions to obtain employees’ affirmative consent before collecting any money for political activities
Sacramento, CA (May 27, 2015) – The United States District Court for the Eastern District of California has just granted class-action status to a lawsuit filed by California civil servants against SEIU Local 1000. The lawsuit challenges the union’s collection policy, which requires nonmembers to affirmatively object to paying for union politics, and asks that the SEIU be required to get employees’ permission before spending their money on political activism. The plaintiffs are receiving free legal assistance from a National Right to Work Foundation staff attorney, who has been certified as the attorney for a class estimated to consist of at least 34,000 workers.
The lawsuit builds on Knox v. SEIU Local 1000, a Right to Work Foundation-won United States Supreme Court decision from 2012. In Knox, the High Court held, for the first time, that a union should not have collected dues for a political spending campaign without nonmembers’ affirmative consent.
In California and 24 other states that lack Right to Work laws, nonunion employees can be forced to pay union dues or fees to keep a job. However, employees have the right to opt out of paying for activities unrelated to workplace bargaining, such as union political activism.
