Over twenty lifeguards filed a lawsuit against their union, the California State Law Enforcement Association (CSLEA) and the State of California for unlawfully conscripting them into union membership and forcing them to maintain membership for nearly four years.

Over twenty lifeguards filed a lawsuit against their union, the California State Law Enforcement Association (CSLEA) and the State of California for unlawfully conscripting them into union membership and forcing them to maintain membership for nearly four years. The Lifeguards are asserting their rights under Janus v. AFSCME, the landmark case in which the Supreme Court held that no public sector employee can be forced to bankroll a union without waiving their First Amendment rights. CSLEA and the State are forcing the lifeguards to remain dues-paying members pursuant to a so-called maintenance of membership agreement in their collective bargaining agreement. Plaintiffs allege the Defendants violated the First Amendment by forcing them to subsidize union speech against their will.

Press Release

Advocates for Faith & Freedom

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, February 7, 2022

Contact: NICOLE VELASCO at 951-304-7583 (office)
media@faith-freedom.com

For Immediate Release 02/07/2022, Los Angeles, California – In June 2018, the United States Supreme Court in the seminal case called Janus v. AFSCME held that public employees are no longer required to pay money to a union as a condition of employment. The ruling also held that public employees must affirmatively “opt in” to the union before the union can collect money from their paychecks. A constitutional waiver requires a knowing, intelligent, and voluntary waiver.

Following this case, dozens of lifeguards in California represented by the California State Law Enforcement Association (CSLEA) sought to leave their union. However, the union insists on holding the lifeguards captive by enforcing an unconstitutional provision in their collective bargaining agreement (CBA) that they deceptively incorporated into the lifeguards’ membership applications.

These membership applications are a dead letter in light of Janus vs. AFSCME. CSLEA coerced the lifeguards into signing a membership application under threat of a fee scheme that unconstitutionally punished their pocketbooks. In other words, if the lifeguards did not sign a membership application, they were threatened with fees equal to or greater than full union dues. And, to add insult to injury, the union refuses to release the lifeguards and will continue garnishing their wages until June 2023, pursuant to a maintenance of membership provision in their CBA, a provision the union conveniently neglected to inform the lifeguards about.

“This case is no different than Janus v. AFSCME,” says Robert Tyler, President of Advocates for Faith & Freedom. “Just like Janus, who was forced to pay agency fees pursuant to a union security agreement in his union’s CBA, the lifeguards are forced to pay union dues pursuant to a maintenance of membership agreement in their union’s CBA. Both schemes amount to forced speech and are unconstitutional in the wake of Janus.” 

This case will be heard in front of a three-judge panel at the Ninth Circuit on February 8, 2022. A link to the live oral arguments can be found here, Portland Pioneer Courtroom.

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For additional comments and interviews, please email Nicole Velasco at media@faith-freedom.com or call 951-304-7583.

About Advocates for Faith & Freedom (www.faith-freedom.com): Advocates for Faith & Freedom is a non-profit law firm dedicated to protecting constitutional and religious liberty in the courts. Our mission is to engage in cases that will uphold our religious liberty and America’s heritage and to educate Americans about our fundamental constitutional rights.

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