Third Circuit rejects challenge to class action suit over union feesOn Jan. 15, 2021, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit upheld the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania’s decision in Bethany LaSpina v. SEIU Pennsylvania State Council et al. The lower court had dismissed the case, ruling that LaSpina did not have standing to bring a class action suit against SEIU seeking refunds of union fees. Parties to the suitThe plaintiff is Bethany LaSpina, a Scranton Public Library employee. The defendants are the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Pennsylvania State Council, SEIU Local 668, SEIU Local 32BJ, SEIU Healthcare PA, Pennsylvania Joint Board of Workers United, Scranton Public Library, and the Lackawanna County Public Library System. What's at issue, and how the lower court ruledOn Oct. 18, 2018, Bethany LaSpina filed a class action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. The plaintiff asked the court to certify two classes:
On Sept. 30, 2019, Judge Malachy Mannion, a Barack Obama (D) appointee, dismissed the plaintiff’s claims for lack of standing and mootness. About Janus and Abood: On June 27, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its 5-4 decision in Janus v. AFSCME. The court ruled that public-sector unions cannot compel the non-member employees they represent to pay fees to cover the costs of non-political union activities. Janus overturned the precedent established in Abood v. Detroit Board of Education in 1977. In that case, the court ruled that requiring employees to pay fees to support union activities did not violate the employees’ First Amendment rights. These fees were commonly referred to as agency fees or fair-share fees. How the Third Circuit ruledThe three-judge panel—Judges Cheryl Ann Krause, Felipe Restrepo, and Stephanos Bibas—unanimously affirmed the district court’s ruling. Writing for the court, Restrepo said: LaSpina had no standing to seek a refund of any portion of the Union dues she made prior to Janus because she cannot tie the payment of those dues to the Union’s unconstitutional deduction of fair-share fees from nonmembers. In addition, if LaSpina is due a refund of certain monies that were deducted from her wages after she resigned, the claim is not a federal one; rather, it is, if anything, a state court claim for conversion or trespass to chattels. Finally, LaSpina’s claim that the Union may not collect any dues from an employee until that employee knowingly and freely waives their constitutional right to resign from Union membership and withhold payments to the Union is moot as LaSpina no longer is a Union member. Krause and Restrepo are Obama appointees. Bibas was appointed by Donald Trump (R). What comes nextLaSpina has not commented on whether she will appeal the Third Circuit’s decision. The case and number are Bethany LaSpina v. SEIU Pennsylvania State Council et al. (19-3484). What we're reading
The Big PictureNumber of relevant bills by stateWe are currently tracking 28 pieces of legislation dealing with public-sector employee union policy. On the map below, a darker shade of green indicates a greater number of relevant bills. Click here for a complete list of all the bills we're tracking. Number of relevant bills by current legislative statusNumber of relevant bills by partisan status of sponsor(s)Recent Legislative ActionsBelow is a complete list of relevant legislative actions taken since our last issue.
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