SEIU filings show $32 million was seized from 80,000 providers in scheme ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2014
Chicago, IL (June 7, 2016) – The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Illinois has just denied a motion for class certification in a lawsuit filed by National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys for three Illinois homecare providers.
The lawsuit is a continuation of Harris v. Quinn, a Foundation Supreme Court victory in 2014 that 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 case, now designated Riffey v. SEIU, was remanded to the District Court to settle the remaining issues, including the question of whether the SIEU would be forced to return over $30 million dollars in dues confiscated from nonmembers as part of its unconstitutional scheme.
The latest decision can be appealed to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, and the homecare providers’ Foundation-provided attorneys are now considering when to file an appeal.
Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Foundation, issued the following statement on the ruling:
“The United States Supreme Court ruled that the SEIU had illegally confiscated union dues from thousands of Illinois homecare providers, but this ruling denies those same caregivers the opportunity to reclaim money that never should have gone to the SEIU in the first place. If this order stands it will allow the SEIU to have violated the First Amendment rights of over 80,000 homecare providers with impunity.
“If SEIU bosses are not required to return the money they seized in violation of homecare providers’ constitutional rights, it will only encourage similar behavior from union officials eager to trample the First Amendment to enrich themselves over the objections 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.
