Ángel Valencia
Ángel J. Valencia is a Senior Counsel at the Liberty Justice Center, where he litigates to defend individual liberties and challenge government overreach.
The Liberty Justice Center, together with the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, represents civilian employees of the Puerto Rico Police Bureau who challenged PRPB’s practice of paying a discretionary employer health care contribution only to union members while denying the same benefit to eligible nonmembers.
For years, PRPB provided an “additional employer contribution” of $25 per month toward health insurance funded by the Commonwealth’s budget, bringing the total employer contribution to $125 per month for union members, but only $100 per month for nonmembers who exercised their right not to join the union.
Despite LJC’s landmark case in 2018, in the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision of Janus v. AFSCME which recognized public employees’ First Amendment right to decline union membership and payments, PRPB and the union maintained this members-only contribution, exerting financial pressure to join or remain in the union. In 2022, civilian PRPB employees sued under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that the policy coerced union association and penalized non-membership in violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendments.
On September 19, 2024, Judge William G. Young of the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico granted declaratory and injunctive relief, holding it unconstitutional for a public employer to pay a discretionary monetary health benefit to union members while denying it to eligible nonmembers. The court enjoined PRPB from withholding the $25 supplemental health benefit from nonmembers based solely on union membership status.
Public employees have a constitutional right to decline union membership and financial support. Governments cannot use selective benefit payments to pressure employees into joining a union. This decision reinforces that “members-only” monetary perks funded or administered by public employers violate the First Amendment when used to penalize non-membership. LJC will continue to stand for worker’s rights and to protect individuals from being bullied or coerced into joining unions if it is not their desire.
Puerto Rico Police Bureau Civilian Employees v. Puerto Rico Police Bureau (PRPB) and Union of Organized Civilian Employees was filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico on August 18, 2022.
Ángel J. Valencia is a Senior Counsel at the Liberty Justice Center, where he litigates to defend individual liberties and challenge government overreach.