It did not take long; on June 13, 2018, a class action lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York challenging amendments to the New York Civil Service Law that were designed to blunt the effects of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Janus v. American Federation of State, Municipal and County Employees.  In the lawsuit, Pellegrino v. New York State United Teachers, et. al, the two named plaintiffs representing the class are a teacher who is a union member and a second teacher who is an agency fee-payer.

Among other things, the Pellegrino plaintiffs seek to have New York Civil Service Law §208(3) (a)-(b), which has permitted unions to collect agency fees, declared unconstitutional and have the New York State United Teachers refund all agency fees collected.  In this respect, the Pellegrino lawsuit is like other similar lawsuits that have been filed in many other states, including California, where seven teachers filed a class action to claw back union fees that were collected, they claim, in violation of their constitutional rights.

In addition to seeking a refund of union dues and fees paid, the Pellegrino plaintiffs also seek to have the provision of the amended New York Civil Service Law which permits unions to set the window period within which an employee may revoke the employee’s union membership declared unconstitutional.  If the plaintiffs are successful, provisions that are contained in the membership cards limiting when an employee can opt out of a union will no longer be valid, and employees will be able to opt out at any time.

You may also view the recorded webinar from July 11, titled “Union Fee Freeze and the New York Thaw,” or our prior June 27 Legal Alert, titled “SCOTUS Rules: Free Speech Rights of Public Sector Employees Override a Union’s Right to Collect Agency Fees.”