(San Juan, Puerto Rico)—Yesterday, the Liberty Justice Center, alongside the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of Puerto Rico public employee Luis Rigau challenging the Puerto Rico Industrial Commission’s (PRIC) and the United Food and Commercial Worker (UFCW) Local 481’s policy of compelling union membership and deducting union dues from his wages without his consent.
Filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico, the case asserts that PRIC and UFCW Local 481 have been deducting dues from Mr. Rigau’s paycheck since December 2022 despite his repeated written objections and his 2018 resignation from union membership following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Janus v. AFSCME. In Janus, the Court held that public employers and unions cannot deduct dues or fees from a public employee’s pay without the employee’s affirmative consent and a knowing, voluntary waiver of First Amendment rights.
Though PRIC initially honored Mr. Rigau’s resignation and ceased deductions in 2018, in November 2022, PRIC reversed course and reinstated compulsory union membership and dues deductions for all bargaining unit employees, including nonmembers – a clear violation of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Janus. The Union cited a local procedural ruling that they claim did not disturb Janus or public employees’ constitutional rights. Since then, PRIC has deducted, and the Union has collected dues from Mr. Rigau’s wages without his authorization.
“The Constitution is clear after Janus: the government cannot take union dues from a public employee without his or her affirmative consent. PRIC and UFCW Local 481 are ignoring that rule and are seizing Mr. Rigau’s wages anyway. We are asking the court to put a stop to this violation,” said Ángel J. Valencia, senior counsel at the Liberty Justice Center.
“Compulsory union dues are unconstitutional and this is exactly what I, and the Liberty Justice Center, fought so hard to eradicate back in 2018,” says Mark Janus, lead plaintiff in Janus v. AFSCME. “Unions have no right to reinstate union membership requirements, especially when a public employee has explicitly opted out. I am grateful that the Liberty Justice Center and Mr. Rigau are fighting back.”
The lawsuit, filed November 18, 2025, seeks a declaratory judgment that the compulsory dues policy violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments, an injunction halting further deductions without affirmative consent, restitution of dues taken without authorization, nominal damages for ongoing constitutional violations, and attorneys’ fees.
The Liberty Justice Center’s complaint in Rigau v. Puerto Rico Industrial Commission was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico and is available here.