While teachers across California are welcoming their students back into the classroom, the Freedom Foundation is actively fighting to protect teachers’ rights.
In a newly filed class-action lawsuit, Mendez v. California Teachers Association, the organization is representing seven educators whose request to opt out of the union was refused by the union, citing “membership commitment cards” they were pressured to sign.
The lead plaintiff, Bethany Mendez, told the Daily Signal that “(A)fter (the local union) withheld information, misled us and accepted poor salary and benefits in my district, I wanted out of both the state and local union.”
Ms. Mendez is a special education teacher in Fremont Unified School District. When she printed an opt-out request from OptOutToday.com after Janus, the union denied her request and continued taking her money.
CTA argues the language of the cards makes union membership irrevocable for signees. But Freedom Foundation attorneys note such agreements were invalidated by last year’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Janus v. AFSCME, which declared forced union dues or fees unconstitutional.
At a press conference, Ms. Mendez said, “It is unfathomable to me that after even receiving a revocation of consent, and the passing of Janus, that the local and state unions would continue to assert this mandatory deduction from our paychecks.”
The union may not have your back, but Freedom Foundation does.
