Case Background: On May 1, 2019, nine workers in Illinois government filed a federal class action lawsuit against AFSCME, demanding the union return money taken from their paychecks for union “agency” or “fair share” fees before the Court’s June 2018 ruling in Janus v. AFSCME. If successful, these workers and more than 2,700 other state employees in Illinois could have recouped more than $2 million that the union took from them.
The Illinois workers were seeking a refund of union fees paid from May 1, 2017, through June 28, 2018, because this is what was permitted under the Illinois statute of limitations. However, each of these workers and many others have paid much more in illegal union fees over the course of their public service careers.
On February 3, 2021, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit upheld the District Court’s dismissal of our case. A petition for a writ of certiorari was filed with the Supreme Court; however, they denied our petition.
Jeffrey M. Schwab serves as Senior Counsel and Interim Director of Litigation at the Liberty Justice Center, where he litigates cases to protect the rights to free speech, economic liberty, private property and other Constitutional rights in both federal and state courts across the country.
James McQuaid is a staff attorney at Liberty Justice Center where he assists in cases to protect the rights to free speech, economic liberty, private property, and other Constitutional rights in courts across the country.