David Schaszberger worked for the state of Pennsylvania as a statistical analyst with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry for ten years. During his time as a state employee, he was never a member of the government union, yet he was forced to pay AFSCME more than $4,000 in non-member fees just to keep his job.
In 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled it was illegal to require public employees to pay union fees as a condition of employment. Now David and other Pennsylvania state employees who were forced to pay these fees prior to the Court’s decision want a refund.
The Liberty Justice Center and the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation have filed a federal class-action lawsuit against AFSCME Council 13 on behalf of seven current and former Pennsylvania state employees.
Schaszberger et al., v. AFSCME Council 13 demands a refund of non-member fees paid to AFSCME between Nov. 7, 2017, and June 27, 2018, the time frame permitted under the Pennsylvania 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.
If successful, these workers and nearly 10,000 other state employees could recoup up to $3 million that the union took from them.
Reilly Stephens is a Counsel 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.