Dist. Ct. did not err in granting defendants-union and State’s motion for summary judgment in plaintiff-public employee’s section 1983 action requesting damages from union in amount of all “fair-share” fees plaintiff paid prior to Supreme Court’s decision in plaintiff’s case (Janus v. AFSCME, Council 31, 138 S.Ct. 2448), which held that compulsory fair-share or agency fee arrangements impermissibly infringe on plaintiff's 1st Amendment rights. Plaintiff received all that he was entitled to receive in form of declaratory and injunctive relief that precluded union from collecting fair-share dues from non-members. However, union was entitled to assert good-faith defense with respect to plaintiff’s section 1983 claim for prior fair-share payments, since: (1) good-faith defense is available to private party defendants in section 1983 actions where private parties are alleged to be acting under color of state law; and (2) instant union could properly invoke such defense, where it had legal right prior to decision in Janus to receive and spend fair-share fees collected from plaintiff and other non-union employees, and where union had complied with operative state law and line of cases following Abood, 431 U.S. 209, that had allowed collection of fair-share fees.
Federal 7th Circuit Court
Civil Court
Labor Law