SEIU filings show $32 million was seized from 80,000 providers in scheme the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional in 2014

Chicago, IL (September 22, 2016) – Staff Attorneys for the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation have filed an appeal in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit to reverse the district court’s ruling in Riffey v. SEIU that blocked the return of thirty-two million dollars in union dues illegally seized by the SEIU from tens of thousands of Illinois homecare providers.

In 2014, the Foundation won the case Harris v. Quinn before the U.S. Supreme Court, which held that the collection of forced union dues from home-based caregivers violated their First Amendment rights. After the Supreme Court’s June 2014 ruling the Harris case, now designated Riffey v. SEIU, was remanded to the district court to settle the remaining issues, including whether the SIEU would be required to return more than $30 million dollars in dues confiscated from nonmembers as part of its unconstitutional scheme.

In June, the District Court ruled that the SEIU did not have to repay these funds. That decision is now being appealed to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Foundation, issued the following statement:

“The United States Supreme Court ruled that the SEIU had illegally confiscated union dues from tens of thousands of Illinois homecare providers, but the district court ruling denied those same caregivers the opportunity to reclaim money that never should have gone to the SEIU in the first place. If SEIU bosses are not required to return the money they seized in violation of homecare providers’ First Amendment Rights, it will only encourage similar behavior from union officials eager to trample on the First Amendment to enrich themselves at the expense of tens of thousands of homecare providers.”

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.