Ct. Employees Sue Unions for Ignoring Financial Disclosure Law

Workers say their unions ignored transparency law while regulators failed to act, forcing members to seek a court order to open the books.

February, 23, 2026, Hartford, Conn.—Two Connecticut public employees filed a lawsuit against their unions, alleging that union officials are flouting state transparency law while state regulators refuse to hold them accountable. For decades, the plaintiffs argue, union members have been denied their legal right to see how union officials are spending their dues money. 

A 1957 Connecticut law requires public-sector unions with 25 or more members to submit annual financial reports to the state and allows union members to see those records and ask the state to audit them. According to the lawsuit, Connecticut unions to which the law applies have not filed the required reports for decades. Meanwhile, the state’s labor commissioner has said that the agency is choosing not to enforce this statute.  

The plaintiffs, criminal justice professor Earl Ormond and corrections officer Ryan Bilodeau, are asking the court to step in and require their unions to comply with the law. Their lawsuit could affect most of Connecticut’s more than 100,000 public employees.  

At the same time, Bilodeau and Ormond have sent a letter to state Sen. Rob Sampson to raise awareness among legislators that union officials appear to be ignoring a duly enacted state law and that regulators are refusing to enforce it, leaving members with no way to exercise their rights under the statute.  

Ormond, a retired law enforcement officer who oversees the criminal justice program at Connecticut State Community College – Naugatuck Valley, says his union, the Congress of Connecticut Community Colleges (or 4Cs), frequently promotes political causes that do not reflect his views. He began questioning his union’s finances after receiving repeated emails about political activity without clear explanations of how much money union officials were spending in his name. 

“It’s simple: I want to know where my money is going,” Ormond says. “Right now, it feels like my union dues disappear from my paycheck and go to some faceless, nameless decision-maker upstate who refuses to tell me how much is being spent or why. Transparency is just a word on paper if union members still can’t see the books.” 

Bilodeau, a Department of Corrections officer since 2015 and longtime member of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), Local 391, says it has become increasingly difficult to get straight answers from union officials about the union’s finances. To Bilodeau, the lack of transparency has eroded trust in an institution he believes is supposed to represent workers equally. 

“When you can’t get straight answers about where your money is going, your trust in the union starts to break down,” Bilodeau said. “Auditing the spending is the core of everything. If someone is hiding financial details from you, it raises red flags. I pay my dues every paycheck. I shouldn’t have to fight just to get basic answers about what’s being done with my money.” 

Ormond and Bilodeau’s lawsuit argues that court intervention is necessary because the agency charged with enforcing the statute has refused to do its legal duty. Labor officials have said they do not have any reports on file, and in an August 8, 2025, letter, Connecticut Department of Labor (DOL) Commissioner Danté Bartolomeo complained that complying with a valid state law would be too much trouble, writing, “[T]he fine for unions who don’t submit a report is $25; it costs more in staff time to go after unions who failed to report than the fine covers.” 

But Ormond believes the state has a duty to enforce the law anyway. “This law is about the principle that everyday workers have a right to know how a select group of powerful union officials is using their money,” he said. “I believe that principle is worth enforcing—even if it requires the DOL to do some paperwork.” 

Anthony Holtzman, managing attorney for the Fairness Center, a national public interest law firm that represents Ormond and Bilodeau, commented:  

“Reviewing these union financial reports would provide our clients with peace of mind that their money is being used wisely. And it would help them hold union officials accountable if needed. But laws are meaningless unless they are enforced. Our clients are demanding that the state of Connecticut honor the promise of transparency it made to them.”  

Bilodeau & Ormond v. AFSCME Local 391 & 4Cs seeks a declaration from Connecticut Superior Court that the unions violated the law and an order compelling them to file the required financial reports and make them available to members. 

Plaintiffs and Fairness Center attorneys are available for comment. Please contact us at media@fairnesscenter.org or 844.293.1001 to schedule an interview. 

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The Fairness Center is a nonprofit, public interest law firm offering free legal services to those hurt by public-sector union officials. For more information visit www.FairnessCenter.org.