Representing Public Employees Hurt
by Public-Sector Union Officials
WHO WE ARE:
The Fairness Center is a nonprofit law firm that provides free legal services to those hurt by public-sector union officials. We advocate for our clients both in the court of law and the court of public opinion.
WHO WE SERVE:
Our clients are public employees and others defending their constitutional rights, facing union retaliation, fighting unfair representation, or demanding accountability for corruption by union officials.
WHERE WE OPERATE:
We offer our free legal services in the states of Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New York, and Colorado, and we serve federal government employees wherever they work or reside.
Who we are: The Fairness Center is a nonprofit law firm that provides free legal services to those hurt by public-sector union officials. We advocate for our clients both in the court of law and the court of public opinion.
Who we serve: Our clients are public employees and others defending their constitutional rights, facing union retaliation, fighting unfair representation, or demanding accountability for corruption by union officials.
Where we operate: We offer our free legal services in the states of Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New York, and Colorado, and we serve federal government employees wherever they work or reside.
Client Successes
New York Railman overcomes retaliation
NYC school employee wins dues refund
Corrections Officers Expose Corruption
Ray faced retaliation from union officials and lost opportunities to work overtime after he resigned his membership. We successfully defended him and recovered his lost wages.
Jatania resigned her union membership but teachers’ union officials ignored her and kept taking her money. With our help, she got out of the union and recovered improperly deducted dues.
Chris and Cory discovered that thousands of dollars of membership dues had been mishandled. Later, six union officials were arrested on felony theft charges.
Client Successes
New York Railman overcomes retaliation
Ray faced retaliation from union officials and lost opportunities to work overtime after he resigned his membership. We successfully defended him and recovered his lost wages.
NYC school employee wins dues refund
Jatania resigned her union membership but teachers’ union officials ignored her and kept taking her money. With our help, she got out of the union and recovered improperly deducted dues.
Corrections Officers Expose Corruption
Chris and Cory discovered that thousands of dollars of membership dues had been mishandled. Later, six union officials were arrested on felony theft charges.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you are a public employee who is not a union member, you have a constitutional right not to pay fees to a union, according to the Supreme Court’s Janus v. AFSCME decision in 2018.
Some courts have said that employees who were union members but who later resigned from the union had to continue paying union dues for a period of time in some circumstances. One example is if the employee had signed a membership card or application containing certain language.
We have successfully represented clients who were told they had to pay the union when they did not want to. However, the facts and circumstances of each situation vary, and our ability to offer representation may depend on the relevant legal jurisdiction.
NOTE: If you have questions about this topic, or think you have a legal issue, consider contacting a lawyer. Fairness Center lawyers represent clients for free and can be reached here or at 844.293.1001. We strongly encourage you to pursue with haste any legal claim you believe you may have, as the mere passage of time may prevent you from exercising possible legal claims.
Unions owe a duty of fair representation to all the employees in a bargaining unit they represent, whether they are union members or not. The U.S. Supreme Court has said that the duty is breached when a union’s actions toward an employee it represents are “arbitrary, discriminatory, or in bad faith.” Vaca v. Sipes, 386 U.S. 171, 190 (1967).
Many jurisdictions follow that standard, but the exact details of what the duty requires may vary by jurisdiction and circumstances. Some states permit unions not to represent nonmembers in “individualized” grievances. Also, some states allow nonmembers to represent themselves in grievances, at least in the first stages.
The Fairness Center has represented clients, like Connecticut teacher John Grande, who alleged that their union violated the duty of fair representation because they were not union members or because union officials misrepresented important information during collective bargaining, as was the case with Pennsylvania employee Mark Kiddo and his colleagues.
NOTE: If you have questions about this topic, or think you have a legal issue, consider contacting a lawyer. Fairness Center lawyers represent clients for free and can be reached here or at 844.293.1001. We strongly encourage you to pursue with haste any legal claim you believe you may have, as the mere passage of time may prevent you from exercising possible legal claims.
Unions owe a duty of fair representation to all the employees in a bargaining unit they represent, whether they are union members or not. The U.S. Supreme Court has said that the duty is breached when a union’s actions toward an employee it represents are “arbitrary, discriminatory, or in bad faith.” Vaca v. Sipes, 386 U.S. 171, 190 (1967).
Many jurisdictions follow that standard, but the exact details of what the duty requires may vary by jurisdiction and circumstances.
The Fairness Center has represented clients, like Connecticut teacher John Grande, who have alleged that their union violated the duty of fair representation because they were not union members or because union officials misrepresented important information during collective bargaining, as was the case with Pennsylvania employee Mark Kiddo and his colleagues.
NOTE: If you have questions about this topic, or think you have a legal issue, consider contacting a lawyer. Fairness Center lawyers represent clients for free and can be reached here or at 844.293.1001. We strongly encourage you to pursue with haste any legal claim you believe you may have, as the mere passage of time may prevent you from exercising possible legal claims.
The Fairness Center currently offers free legal representation in Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, Colorado, and to federal employees, and may soon be expanding to other areas. The Fairness Center has represented clients involved in disputes with unions, including:
- American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE),
- American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME),
- American Federation of Teachers (AFT),
- International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW),
- International Brotherhood of Teamsters (Teamsters),
- Law Enforcement Employees Benevolent Association (LEEBA),
- National Education Association (NEA),
- National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU),
- New York State United Teachers (NYSUT),
- Pennsylvania State Corrections Officers Association (PSCOA),
- Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA),
- Service Employees International Union (SEIU),
- Transportation Workers Union of America (TWU),
- United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW),
- UNITE Here, and more.
NOTE: If you have questions about this topic, or think you have a legal issue, consider contacting a lawyer. Fairness Center lawyers represent clients for free and can be reached here or at 844.293.1001. We strongly encourage you to pursue with haste any legal claim you believe you may have, as the mere passage of time may prevent you from exercising possible legal claims.
Request Free Legal Help
We encourage you to contact the Fairness Center. Please read the below disclaimers and, only after you have done so, please indicate that you have read, understood, and agree to them by clicking the “I Understand & Agree” button.
No Attorney-Client Relationship: Contacting the Fairness Center and/or its attorneys does not in-and-of-itself create an attorney-client relationship. Neither your receipt of information from the Fairness Center’s website, nor your use of the Fairness Center’s website to contact the Fairness Center and/or the Fairness Center’s attorneys creates an attorney-client relationship between you and the Fairness Center and/or its attorneys. It is the Fairness Center’s policy to not represent anyone until it has first investigated for possible conflicts of interest and then obtained a signed letter of agreement. You will not become a client of the Fairness Center unless and until there is a signed letter of agreement between you and the Fairness Center setting forth the scope of the Fairness Center’s representation and other relevant matters.
No Guarantee of Results: Prior case results are specific to the facts of each case and do not guarantee a similar outcome.
No Confidentiality: Please do not provide through this website or unsolicited email any confidential information to the Fairness Center, a Fairness Center attorney, and/or a Fairness Center employee. There is no assurance that information that you transmit will be maintained as confidential. Please only send your contact information and any non-confidential, general information related to your legal matter.
Response Time: Please allow up to one week for a response to your web or email inquiry. If your matter is time sensitive, please call the Fairness Center at 844.293.1001 and ask to speak to an attorney. Inquiries received by the Fairness Center that, in its sole discretion, it believes to be insincere, without merit, or outside the scope of the Fairness Center’s mission will not receive a response.