Giangrasso v. UA Local 9

Victory for Workers’ Rights: 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. A press release on the victory is available here.

Case Background: On August 1, the Liberty Justice Center filed a lawsuit against a New Jersey union that violated a local plumber’s constitutional rights and tried to justify the violation through word games—claiming that a Supreme Court decision didn’t apply because the union called the money illegally taken from his paychecks “assessments” rather than “dues.”

In the landmark 2018 decision Janus v. AFSCME, the U.S. Supreme Court recognized that public-sector employees have a First Amendment right to choose whether they will join or financially support a union. Unless employees “affirmatively consent” to waiving that First Amendment right, unions cannot legally withhold dues or other fees from their paychecks.

Despite the Supreme Court’s ruling, many unions resist recognizing employees’ rights. As a result, public-sector employees like plaintiff Nicolo Giangrasso must go to court to make the union recognize their constitutional rights and stop withholding money from their paychecks.

Nicolo Giangrasso is a plumber employed by the Hamilton Township School District. When he began working there, he joined the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry of the United States and Canada, Local 9 (UA Local 9). Since then, the School District has withheld union dues from his paychecks for the union.

When Mr. Giangrasso learned about his rights under Janus v. AFSCME, he sent a letter to UA Local 9 resigning his union membership and requesting an end to the dues deduction. The union refused, claiming that the Janus decision didn’t apply to Mr. Giangrasso because the union called the money deducted from his paychecks “assessments” rather than “dues.”

But what the union calls the money does not matter—in the Janus decision, the Supreme Court held 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.

The Liberty Justice Center filed a lawsuit on Mr. Giangrasso’s behalf on August 1, arguing that the union and the school district violated his First Amendment rights under Janus by continuing to take dues from his paycheck without his consent. The lawsuit urged the court to require the union to recognize Mr. Giangrasso’s rights and cease deducting union dues and fees from his paychecks. The lawsuit also asked the court to require the union to return the money illegally taken from Mr. Giangrasso after he opted out of the union.

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.

Giangrasso v. United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry of the United States and Canada, Local 9 was filed in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey on August 1, 2024.