WEA drops countersuit against the Evergreen Freedom Foundation

On Monday, April 24, the Washington Education Association (WEA) notified the court that it will dismiss all claims in its longstanding countersuit against the Evergreen Freedom Foundation, an Olympia-based public policy organization. The union countersued after the Foundation uncovered multiple campaign finance violations made by WEA officials. EFF’s investigation resulted in the state attorney general levying the largest fine for campaign finance violations in state history against the WEA and its parent organization, the National Education Association (NEA).

The WEA originally alleged 12 EFF violations, 11 of which were dismissed by Thurston County Superior Court Judge William T. McPhee in November of 1998. The remaining charge against EFF claimed the Foundation published materials and asked questions that "fomented discontent" among teachers resulting in, according to the WEA, numerous teachers quitting the union.

Two years ago, the WEA also sued two teachers alleging they too had fomented discontent resulting in WEA members quitting the union. After incurring thousands of dollars in attorneys’ fees, at the last minute the WEA dropped the charges.

"Teacher union officials have a bad habit of trying to bully and bankrupt people who don’t agree with them," said EFF spokesman Jami Lund. "This was pure retaliation by union officials who had used the hard-earned dollars of its members to pay for harassing a handful of teachers and a 10-person organization like EFF. We hope to recoup what this suit has cost us."

The WEA tied EFF up in court for 32 months, all the while failing to identify a single EFF action substantiating the allegations. Earlier in the suit, the union attempted to gain the names and addresses of teachers who had contacted EFF about the WEA, but the court did not grant access.

"The union had no case and it gave up before the court had the chance to dismiss it," said Lund. "If the WEA officials hope we have been intimidated, they are mistaken. We can now redouble our efforts to make certain teachers are not forced to make political donations against their will."

Lund added, "I think they also feared that the suit would draw attention to the fact that some teachers can get a rebate of dues used for politics—a fact they tend to keep quiet."