(Tampa Free Press)—The Liberty Justice Center (LJC) announced Thursday that seven additional members of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) have joined a legal effort to hold union leadership accountable for failing to produce audited financial reports for more than four years.
The CTU’s constitution mandates annual audited financial reports, a requirement that has not been fulfilled since 2019. Despite receiving a formal demand letter on October 1 urging compliance, CTU leadership has neither released the missing audits nor provided a timeline for their production, prompting union members to take legal action.
Instead of addressing the concerns, CTU leadership has attempted to discredit the initial four plaintiffs, accusing them of being part of a so-called “right-wing” conspiracy linked to “Project 2025.” However, this has not deterred other union members from stepping forward to demand transparency and accountability from their leaders.
“As CTU members, we deserve transparency and accountability from our leadership. By joining this effort, we are standing up for the principles our union should embody,” said client Anthony Juggan, who has been a CTU member since 2013. “Despite attempts by CTU leadership to dismiss this lawsuit as a ‘right wing’ effort, the truth is simple: we are union members demanding accountability from our own leaders. This is a nonpartisan effort to ensure the union operates with integrity for the benefit of all members.”
“Hardworking, dues-paying members deserve financial transparency,” agreed plaintiff Bridget Cuevas, who has been a CTU member since 2012 and is one of the four union members who initially filed suit.
The Liberty Justice Center is representing the plaintiffs pro bono in Weiss v. Chicago Teachers Union, a lawsuit filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County on October 8, 2024. The case seeks to compel CTU leadership to release the missing audits and uphold its constitutional obligations to its 25,000 members.
“The Chicago Teachers’ Union is failing its 25,000 members—and millions of Chicago taxpayers—by withholding years of legally required audits. All our clients are asking for is transparency. If CTU has nothing to hide, why not just produce the audits?” said Dean McGee, Senior Counsel for Educational Freedom at the Liberty Justice Center.