After Janus, Another Key Lawsuit Targeting Unions: How California鈥檚 Yohn Case Targets Opt-Out Rules
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It鈥檚 a week聽until the Supreme Court hears the potential blockbuster case Janus v. AFSCME, which could overrule decades of precedents requiring public employees, including teachers, to pay union dues even if they disagree with union policy and positions.
But there鈥檚 another lead plaintiff 鈥� Ryan Yohn 鈥� ready to take center stage in a second union dues case.
Yohn, a 13-year veteran middle school history teacher in Huntington Beach, California, and seven other teachers in the state are pressing two arguments in their lawsuit.
First, they say, as in the Janus case, that being forced to pay union dues is a violation of the First Amendment. Janus, Yohn, and other government employees who don鈥檛 want to be full union members can opt out of paying for the group鈥檚 political activity, instead paying what are known as 鈥渇air share鈥� or 鈥渁gency鈥� fees. Those dues fund standard union activities from which they also benefit, like salary negotiations or job protections.
They argue, however, that even basic union duties, like collective bargaining, are inherently political when they affect taxpayer dollars and public policy, and that employees shouldn鈥檛 be made to support them if they disagree.
鈥淭he opt-in/opt-out issue is just as much a First Amendment issue as the compulsory dues issue. They both go to unconstitutional burdens that the state is putting on speech.鈥�
鈥擳erry Pell, president of the Center for Individual Rights
Yohn鈥檚 case raises a second issue, one that will likely still be on the table even if the Supreme Court sides with Janus and overturns mandatory dues, as it鈥檚 expected to do. The California teachers argue that the current opt-out process for those who don鈥檛 want to pay dues is overly burdensome and also violates the Constitution. Instead, they maintain, educators who want to join should have to affirmatively opt into the union.
Teachers who don鈥檛 know about, or can鈥檛 follow, the opt-out process are also being forced to subsidize speech they don鈥檛 support, said Terry Pell, president of the Center for Individual Rights, which brought Yohn鈥檚 case. The libertarian nonprofit law firm also represented California teacher Rebecca Friedrichs in her 2016 case challenging union dues.
鈥淭he opt-in/opt-out issue is just as much a First Amendment issue as the compulsory dues issue,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey both go to unconstitutional burdens that the state is putting on speech.鈥�
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Unions, for their part, have argued that the agency fee dues are necessary to prevent 鈥渇ree riders鈥� from reaping the advantages of union contracts without paying, and make it easier for governments to negotiate with one representative of employees.
As to the opt-out issue, unions in a similar case said an opt-out option is sufficient to protect First Amendment rights, and that dissenters can 鈥渞eadily fill out and mail in the simple, one-page opt-out form.鈥�
Yohn, who followed his mother and grandmother into teaching, said he was quick to realize he didn鈥檛 support the California union鈥檚 positions on a lot of educational issues, like tenure, or its political advocacy on issues from abortion and same-sex marriage to raising taxes.
He became a site representative for the union and went so far as to attend the National Education Association鈥檚 annual conference to try to change minds, with little success, he said.
In 2009, he discovered he could opt out of union membership and pay only agency fees via an online search.
鈥淎t least in my district, it was never told to me that this was an option,鈥� he told 蜜桃影视 last week.
The process is confusing, requiring a specifically worded letter sent to the California Teachers Association every year in a limited time window, Yohn said. Teachers also must pay the full dues up front and wait to be reimbursed the portion considered to cover political costs.
鈥淲e simply want the ability to, if you opt out, you opt out once and that鈥檚 it,鈥� he said.
The case, which Yohn and the other educators filed against the California Teachers Association, the National Education Association, local union affiliates, district superintendents, and the state attorney general, is currently on hold pending Janus鈥檚 outcome.
If the Supreme Court does rule in Janus鈥檚 favor, advocates will then ask the lower courts to move forward with Yohn鈥檚 case, in particular the opt-in question.
鈥淎fter the court decides Janus, if that issue is still open, which we expect it will be, then we鈥檒l file up Yohn and be ready to go to address that issue in the following term,鈥� Pell said.
Lawyers hope to take Yohn鈥檚 case to the Supreme Court for the term that begins in October, but they can鈥檛 be sure of how quickly it will move through the lower courts before then, Pell added.
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Carolyn Phenicie is a senior writer at 蜜桃影视 based in Washington, D.C., covering federal policy, Congress, and the Education Department.
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