Pollyanna Burns v. School Svc Emp Union Local 284, No. 21-3052 (8th Cir. 2023)
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Plaintiffs are food service managers employed by the Independent School District 191 in Burnsville, Minnesota. In 2015, Plaintiffs signed a contract to join the union that represents service workers in the school district, the School Service Employees International Union Local 284. These contracts authorized the school district to deduct monthly union dues from the union member’s paycheck and to send those dues to Local 284 on the union member’s behalf. The employees terminated their membership in the union in March 2020 and later sued the school district and Local 284. They alleged that the deduction of dues from their paychecks violated their rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments and also contravened Minnesota law. At issue on appeal is whether a school district and a labor union violated the free speech rights of union members by deducting union dues from employee paychecks.
The Eighth Circuit agreed with the district court that the school district’s employees failed to state a claim, and the court, therefore, affirmed the judgment dismissing the action. The court explained that the employees’ argument mischaracterizes their choice: they were “faced with a constitutional choice—whether or not to join” the union. They chose to join the union and authorize the school district to deduct dues from their paychecks. They did so in exchange for the benefits of union membership, and they “assumed the risk that subsequent changes in the law could alter the cost-benefit balance of their bargain.”
Court Description: [Colloton, Author, with Loken and Benton, Circuit Judges] Civil case - Civil rights. Deduction of union dues under a valid contract between the union and the member does not violate the First Amendment; by signing a union membership contract, an employee clearly and affirmatively waived her right to refrain from joining the union and consented to fund the union according to the terms of the contract; the employees in this suit did not state a claim for violation of rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments.
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