A group of teachers’ unions and union members filed a lawsuit challenging state legislation that required public school employees to submit a written acknowledgment of rights and to undertake additional steps if they wanted their employers to automatically deduct union dues form their paychecks, arguing that it violated their Free Speech and Free Assembly rights under the First Amendment. The district court agreed that the legislation at issue violated their freedom of association rights and entered a permanent injunction and defendant appealed. The Seventh Circuit affirmed, finding that the state failed to establish that the restrictions fulfilled a compelling interest that could not be achieved in less burdensome ways. (SYKES and HAMILTON, concurring)
Federal 7th Circuit Court
Civil Court
Union Membership