Pa. Worker Sues Union, State Over Mishandled Promotion

PUC employee Todd Burns alleges AFSCME, Council 13, violated state law by refusing to fairly represent him

June 12, 2025, Harrisburg, Pa.—Veteran state employee Todd Burns was in line for a well-deserved promotion until state officials allegedly violated his employment contract to promote someone less qualified but who had close ties to management. Burns turned to his union for help, only for AFSCME, Council 13, to refuse to defend the contract, despite his many years as a dues-paying member.

Now, Burns is suing his union for violating state law by failing to provide him with fair representation and his employer, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC), for breaking his employment contract.

“I worked hard for years, earned the highest possible rating for my position, and paid my union thousands of dollars in dues. Yet when it came time for union officials to defend the terms of my employment contract, they were nowhere to be found,” said Burns, who has worked for the PUC since 2018. “Why am I not receiving the representation that I’m paying for?”

Burns was initially confident he was going to receive the promotion. In addition to earning an “outstanding” rating on his job performance, he was, to his knowledge, the most qualified and the most senior applicant. Under his employment contract—negotiated by the same union—if candidates for promotion have equal qualifications, seniority is supposed to determine who gets the position.

That’s not what happened. Instead, the PUC gave the promotion to a less senior and less qualified employee—a candidate who happened to be a friend and former colleague of the hiring manager.

Burns then asked his union, AFSCME, Council 13, to file a grievance over the state’s failure to abide by the employment contract. After staying up to date on his dues for seven years, he thought he would receive help. “If you pay an organization thousands of dollars for representation, you expect to get something in return,” he said.

AFSCME officials turned a blind eye and informed him that the union would not intercede on his behalf. But under Pennsylvania law, public-sector unions have a “duty of fair representation” that requires them to represent all employees—dues-paying or not—in their bargaining units in good faith and without discrimination. To Burns, union membership without representation is essentially worthless.

Burns alleges that state and union officials worked together against him so that he wouldn’t get the promotion he’d earned. His lawsuit aims to hold those officials accountable and expose the union’s failure to represent its members and defend its contract.

“Labor unions have a fiduciary duty to employees, meaning they must fairly advocate for the people they represent. But Todd believes AFSCME officials violated this duty by refusing to intercede on his behalf, even when the state clearly broke the terms of his employment contract. We’re asking the court to vindicate Burns’ right to fair union representation,” said Nathan McGrath, president and general counsel for the Fairness Center, which represents Burns in this lawsuit.

Burns v. AFSCME, Council 13, seeks damages and a ruling from the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania that the union violated its duty of fair representation. The outcome of the case could have significant ramifications for public employees across Pennsylvania seeking fair representation from their unions.

The Fairness Center’s clients have successfully held union officials accountable to their duty of fair representation elsewhere in Pennsylvania. After union officials in Erie concealed a retirement offer from employees during a contract ratification vote, the firm represented a group of Erie Water Works employees who sued AFSCME. In 2021, an Erie County judge ruled AFSCME had breached its duty of fair representation.

Fairness Center attorneys are available for comment on Burns v. AFSCME, Council 13. Please contact Joe Setyon at jgsetyon@fairnesscenter.org or 917-685-4530 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.

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