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December 03, 2008
AG and WEA reach settlement in case initiated by EFF; WEA pays nearly $1 million
Careful enforcement needed to ensure teachers receive a refund from union
Michael Reitz, general counsel of the Evergreen Freedom Foundation, offered the following comments:
“We are pleased the state’s case is finalized. The WEA is paying nearly a million dollars for its violations of state law. As part of the settlement, the union is required to repay teachers for the money it used improperly. Most importantly, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld teachers’ free speech rights and affirmed that no teacher should be forced to pay for unwanted union political activity.
“The union carefully avoided any admission of wrongdoing, but a unanimous Supreme Court ruling and a million-dollar settlement indicate otherwise.
“We are troubled, however, with the enforcement of the refund process. The state is essentially taking the union’s word for the amount of the refund and the list of eligible teachers. Since this ruling follows on the heels of previous legal actions against the union for similar wrongdoing, we are concerned that our attorney general’s office has yielded safeguarding teacher paychecks to the WEA.
“The union will be held accountable for its past violations, but teachers received little protection from the state moving forward. The Washington Legislature, bowing to WEA pressure, amended the law at issue during the 2007 session. At that time, the legislature anticipated a ruling against the WEA and rushed to provide a political bailout by weakening the law.
“Now that the case is settled, the legislature should consider safeguards to ensure that no teacher has to pay for union politics without his or her permission.”
Background
Washington state law requires public school teachers to pay union fees for the cost of bargaining, even if the teacher declines to become a member of the union. State law required unions to obtain “affirmative authorization” from non-member teachers before using their payments for political activity.
After discovering potential violations by the WEA, the Evergreen Freedom Foundation filed a complaint with the Attorney General in 2000. A trial court judge found that the union intentionally violated the law and imposed a $590,000 penalty against it. The WEA challenged the constitutionality of the law, and the case eventually reached the U.S. Supreme Court, where the Court, siding with the state's and EFF's position, unanimously upheld the law as constitutional. The Supreme Court ruled that “unions have no constitutional entitlement to the fees of nonmember-employees,” and states are free to place restrictions on the union’s ability to collect political funds.
Under the terms of the settlement, WEA will pay the State $735,000 to resolve the litigation. In addition, WEA will return up to $240,000 to eligible agency fee payers during the 2003 – 2007 school years. The state’s settlement does not affect a related, private class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of teachers (Davenport v. WEA), which seeks refunds for additional school years.
Additional Information
· Case background and timeline
· AG & WEA press release
| Contact: Michael Reitz | | | General Counsel | | | (360) 956-3482 |
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PO Box 552 Olympia, WA 98507, Telephone: 360-956-3482
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