The Liberty Justice Center announced a victory for workers’ rights as a New Jersey union agreed to settle a case arguing that it had illegally taken money from a local plumber’s paychecks.
In its landmark 2018 decision Janus v. AFSCME, the U.S. Supreme Court found that public employees have a First Amendment right to decide whether to join or financially support a union. The Court also held that unless workers give their “affirmative consent” to waive that right, a union cannot legally withhold any union dues or other fees from their paychecks.
After learning about these constitutional rights under Janus v. AFSCME, Nicolo Giangrasso—a New Jersey plumber employed by the Hamilton Township School District—resigned his union membership and requested the union stop deducting dues from his paychecks. The union refused, falsely claiming that the Supreme Court’s decision only applied to “union dues” and therefore did not apply to Mr. Giangrasso—because the union called the money it illegally took from his paychecks “assessments” instead.
On August 1, the Liberty Justice Center filed a lawsuit against UA Local 9 on Mr. Giangrasso’s behalf, arguing that it does not matter whether the union labels the money withheld from an employee’s paycheck “dues” or “assessments,” because the Supreme Court held in Janus that neither dues, agency fees, “nor any other form of payment to a public-sector union” can be withheld from employees who have not agreed to the withholding—and Mr. Giangrasso had not agreed.
Thanks to the Liberty Justice Center’s work to defend Mr. Giangrasso’s rights under Janus v. AFSCME, the union agreed to settle his case. After the settlement had been reached, Mr. Giangrasso voluntarily dismissed the lawsuit against UA Local 9.
“It should not have taken a lawsuit for the union to honor Mr. Giangrasso’s First Amendment rights,” said Jeffrey Schwab, Senior Counsel at the Liberty Justice Center. “But we are proud to have taken a stand for his constitutional rights and will continue to challenge union policies that violate workers’ rights across the country.”
“The union was playing word games with ‘assessments’ versus ‘dues’ to take money from my paychecks—even though they knew it was wrong and illegal. I’m grateful to the Liberty Justice Center for stepping in to defend my constitutional rights,” said plaintiff Nicolo Giangrasso.
The Liberty Justice Center’s legal filings in Giangrasso v. UA Local 9 are available here.
The Liberty Justice Center continues to fight for the First Amendment rights of public-sector employees across the country. Learn more about the work here.