Veteran Pennsylvania Teacher Files Lawsuit to Protect Religious Objector Rights
Misja v. PSEA
Case Summary
- Linda Misja was a language teacher for more than 35 years, none of which she was a union member or paid for representation.
- In 2012, the Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA) secured the contractual authority to extract nonmember fees. Linda objected on religious grounds, which means her money could go to a charity instead of the union.
- The PSEA rejected Linda’s choice of charities, holding her money in escrow.
PSEA Blocks Religious Objector’s Charity Donations
Linda Misja never wanted to be a union member nor financially support a union. In 2012, the PSEA was allowed to start deducting fees from nonmembers. Linda filed a religious exemption, which the union accepted.
As a religious objector, Linda was entitled to certain legal protections, including the opportunity to redirect her money—otherwise owed to the union—to a charitable organization. However, the PSEA refused her first and second charity selections for wholly political reasons.
(PSEA logo. Credit: Wikipedia.)
Teacher Files Federal Lawsuit
In an effort to resolve the dispute, Linda requested arbitration with the PSEA. The PSEA rejected her request. Money continued to be deducted from her paycheck, only to sit in an interest-bearing escrow account instead of going to a local charity.
Linda found the Fairness Center and filed a lawsuit in federal court to expose the union’s practice and to ask the court to declare that practice illegal, protecting the rights of religious objectors.
PSEA Forced to Return Money
Two years after filing her lawsuit, the courts sided with Linda and the PSEA was forced to return all money they had deducted from her paycheck.
Case Status & Documents
- Complaint
September 1, 2015 - Plaintiff’s Brief in Opposition to PSEA’s Motion to Dismiss
February 4, 2016 - Order Denying PSEA’s Motion to Dismiss & Staying Case
March 28, 2016
Misja v. PSEA is closed.
Media
Federal Court Signals PSEA Headed for Constitutional Showdown
News Release | The Fairness Center
March 30, 2016: “This week, U.S. District Court Judge John E. Jones, III, rejected the union’s attempt to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the Fairness Center on behalf of Linda Misja, a public schoolteacher and religious objector to forced unionism. The suit challenges the union for refusing to let Misja direct the equivalent of her union “fair share fee” to a pro-life charity.”
Why Is a Teachers’ Union Holding a Teacher’s Salary Hostage?
Op-Ed | Fox News
August 21, 2015: “Diversité is a word high school French teacher Linda Misja knows well. Hanging in her Pennsylvania public school classroom is a poster that reads: “Everyone is different. Respect the differences.” Sadly, leaders of the state’s largest teachers union aren’t kindred spirits. They’re holding hostage $2,000 of Misja’s pay until she agrees to send the money to a charity they choose rather than one she believes in.”
