National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys are continuing to litigate well over 100 ongoing cases, providing free legal representation for workers across the country seeking to stand up to union coercion amid the widespread effects of COVID-19. In March, while states were issuing lockdowns and shelter-in-place orders, Foundation staff attorneys fielded more than 130 new requests for free legal aid.

Meanwhile, the Foundation continues to enforce Janus v. AFSCME, which was argued at the United States Supreme Court by Foundation staff attorney Bill Messenger in 2018.

Again with free legal assistance from the Foundation and the Liberty Justice Center, Mark Janus asked the Supreme Court to hear the continuation of his case, in which he seeks a refund of $3,000 in dues seized from his paycheck. If successful, Janus’ case would serve as a precedent that public school teachers, police officers, firefighters, and civil servants are entitled to refunds of unconstitutionally seized union dues.

Additionally, in March, an Alaska prison employee, with free legal aid from Foundation staff attorneys, filed a federal class-action lawsuit against the Alaska State Employees’ Association (ASEA) union and State of Alaska for restrictions on his and his coworkers’ First Amendment right to refrain from subsidizing a union.

The federal lawsuit comes after an Anchorage Superior Court Judge put a hold on Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy’s order last year that all public sector unions in the state must obtain clear consent from all workers before deducting any union dues or fees, as Janus requires. That judge opined that Janus applies only to workers who are not formal union members, despite the fact that unions use dues deduction policies to block workers from stopping dues even after they have resigned from formal union membership.