Dear\nColleagues, <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Great\nnews! I am pleased to inform you that the federal district court has issued a\ndecision dismissing the case in Seidemann, et al. v. Professional Staff\nCongress, et al. in its entirety. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This\ncase was a post-Janus class-action lawsuit against UUP, PSC, NYSUT, AFT\nand other unions. The plaintiffs were agency fee payers whose agency fee\nwithholding stopped immediately following the Supreme Court\u2019s decision in Janus. \nIn this suit, the plaintiffs brought a variety of claims against the unions,\nchief among them a claim seeking repayment of all agency fees paid by the\nplaintiffs and other class members prior to the Janus\ndecision. The district court dismissed the case in its\nentirely. In doing so it held that UUP and the other unions could not be\nrequired to repay agency fees collected prior to the decision in Janus\nas the unions were entitled to rely in good faith on Supreme Court decisions\nprior to Janus which found agency fees constitutional. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\nare fully anticipating that the plaintiffs will appeal the district court\u2019s\ndecision in our case. However, the court\u2019s decision was consistent with a\ngrowing number of similar federal court decisions across the country, including\na number of federal appeals court decisions, affirming the \u201cgood faith\u201d defense\nagainst agency fee repayment claims. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For\nthose of you who are interested in reading it, the decision is\nattached. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
At\na time when I am sure all of us are eager for good news, it\u2019s nice to get a\nlittle bit at the start of the year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In\nSolidarity, <\/p>\n\n\n\n