WEA attacks teacher class action suit

Union says it has no fiduciary responsibility to members

Note: As of this afternoon (August 23rd) the court hearing has been canceled. The motions have not yet been rescheduled.

This Friday, August 24th, the Washington Education Association (WEA) will ask a Thurston County Superior Court Judge to dismiss a class action lawsuit teachers brought against the union last March.

The teachers, who are not members of the union and cannot vote on their own contracts, are seeking a refund of money the WEA took from their paychecks and illegally spent on politics. The WEA was fined $400,000 on July 31st for those violations.

WEA attorneys have given three reasons for dismissing the class action:

1) "The Plaintiffs herein have no right to possess the funds that they allege to belong to them."

2) "There is no 'common law fiduciary duty' owed by unions to the persons whom they represent."

3) "As a matter of law, state law does not impose an affirmative duty of the union to disclose its use of agency shop fees."

“Basically, the WEA is saying ‘Your money belongs to us, we can spend it however we want, and we don’t have to tell you what we’re doing,’” said Marsha Richards, Communications Director for the Olympia-based Evergreen Freedom Foundation (EFF).

EFF brought a complaint last summer which prompted Attorney General Christine Gregoire to file a lawsuit against the WEA, resulting in the $400,000 fine. Gregoire declined to seek a refund for the thousands of teachers involved.

A court hearing to decide the WEA’s motion to dismiss will be held at the Thurston County Courthouse on Friday, August 24th before Superior Court Judge Wm. Thomas McPhee.

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