WEA drops lawsuit against teachers who first sparked investigation of union's illegal political activities

Think tank’s lawsuit proceeds to trial on Monday

OLYMPIA - The Washington Education Association has dropped its suit against two teachers who helped spark an investigation of unprecedented elections-law violations against the union.

"We are pleased that the union has finally backed down from its campaign of intimidation and harassment against these teachers. The Washington Education Association has reached the long-overdue conclusion that First Amendment rights belong to teachers and not just the union brass," said Bob Williams, president of Evergreen Freedom Foundation, an Olympia-based public policy group whose lawsuit against the WEA begins Monday, May 3, in Thurston County Superior Court. "These teachers simply wanted the same thing we are seeking in our lawsuit: respect for the First Amendment rights of political choice that belong to those teachers and everyone else. You cannot have a democracy when elections are bought with forced political donations."

The WEA filed suit against middle-school counselor Barbara Amidon of Olympia and Spokane-area speech pathologist Cindy Omlin — who together organized a teacher support group called the WEA Challenger Network — after the two criticized the union’s spending of dues money on politics. The suit alleged Amidon and Omlin had infringed on the WEA’s trademark and engaged in "tortious interference" with union contracts.

Amidon and Omlin documented illegal transfers from the WEA’s general dues fund to the WEA’s political action committee (WEA-PAC). Their work, along with an investigation by the Evergreen Freedom Foundation, led the Washington State Attorney General to fine the WEA $430,000 for violating campaign-finance laws which bar the use of payroll deductions for politics. It remains the largest set of campaign-finance violations in state history.

The union agreed on Monday to drop its suit against Amidon and Omlin, who have in turn agreed to not use the name "WEA." The case’s presiding judge, Daniel J. Berschauer of Thurston County Superior Court, noted that Amidon and Omlin were simply practicing the same First Amendment rights and freedom of association privilege that the union has utilized for years.

Interestingly, the union’s settlement comes less than a week before the WEA stands trial for serious charges of election-law violations in Thurston County Superior Court. Scheduled to begin Monday, the case—brought by the Evergreen Freedom Foundation and Teachers for a Responsible Union (who are acting on behalf of the State of Washington)—seeks to prove that the WEA is a political action committee. If proven, the union will be compelled to report its political expenditures as required under state law.

"Our lawsuit on behalf of the state of Washington is not only about protecting teachers’ free-speech rights, it is also about protecting the ballot box for every Washington state resident," EFF’s Williams said. "The public has a right to know who is funding politics in this state. That is why we have campaign-finance laws that require mandatory reporting of donations. Just because the WEA is a union does not make it exempt.

Contact: Marsha Richards, Communications Director, (360) 956-3482

Evergreen Freedom Foundation P.O. Box 552, Olympia, WA 98507 Phone: (360) 956-3482, Fax: (360) 352-1874 Email: effwa@effwa.org