(OLYMPIA, Wash.) – A new lawsuit filed today by the Freedom Foundation accuses Washington Department of Social and Health Services and Service Employees International Union 775 of turning state-mandated training sessions for home healthcare providers into taxpayer-funded recruiting opportunities for the union.
The plaintiff in the case, Ken Alvarez, is a Spokane resident who is compensated by Medicaid for care he provides to his disabled fiancée.
“Individual providers are required by law to attend 70 hours of training before they can be certified by the state as a caregiver,” said James Abernathy, the Freedom Foundation’s general counsel. “But as part of that training, they have to listen to a 30-minute presentation on the very first day from a union representative soliciting donations to political committees and extolling the supposed virtues of being a member of SEIU 775.
“Why do they have a right to impose their message on a captive audience?” he asked. “Why should the taxpayers foot the bill for a union recruitment presentation at all? If the union wants to make a sales pitch, they can do it on their own time, pay for it themselves and speak to people who want to listen rather than those who have to attend.”
The argument is relevant, Abernathy noted, in light of the 2014 U.S. Supreme Court case Harris v. Quinn. Prior to that ruling, home healthcare providers were considered full-fledged state employees who could be required to pay union dues or fees as a condition of employment. But the court said they were “partial-public employees” who had the right to decline association with the union.
“Since Harris, any decision to join the union is purely voluntary,” Abernathy said. “In that sense, the union representative is just another salesman selling a product, and the training attendees shouldn’t be required to listen if they’re not interested.”
Abernathy said the Freedom Foundation will argue it is a free speech issue.
“The First Amendment doesn’t just protect your right to say what you want,” he said. “It also protects your right not to listen to the politics and supposed virtue of private organizations.”
If the Freedom Foundation prevails, the union would be ordered to cease its presentations immediately.
The case was filed on Thursday in Federal District Court. No hearing date has been set.
