Chandavong et al. v. Fresno Deputy Sheriff's Association et al.

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Chandavong et al. v. Fresno Deputy Sheriff's Association et al.
Case number: 1:21-cv-00675
Status: Closed
Important dates
Filed: April 22, 2021
District court decision:
Sept. 22, 2022
District court outcome
Stipulated dismissal.

This case is one of over a hundred public-sector union lawsuits Ballotpedia tracked following the U.S. Supreme Court's 2018 decision in Janus v. AFSCME. These pages were updated through February 2023 and may not reflect subsequent case developments. For more information about Ballotpedia's coverage of public-sector union policy in the United States, click here. Contact our team to suggest an update.

Chandavong et al. v. Fresno Deputy Sheriff's Association et al. was terminated on September 22, 2022, after the parties reached a settlement.[1] On April 22, 2021, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California severed the claims of the plaintiffs in Campos v. Fresno Deputy Sheriff’s Association, granting plaintiffs Latana Chandavong and Neng Her "leave to amend their third cause of action against the FDSA for pre-Janus vacation hours that were involuntarily taken when Chandavong and Her were not members of the FDSA."[2]

HIGHLIGHTS
  • The parties to the suit: The plaintiffs were Latana Chandavong and Neng Her. The defendants were the Fresno Deputy Sheriff's Association (FDSA) and the County of Fresno.
  • The issue: The plaintiffs alleged that the FDSA unlawfully confiscated vacation hours when they were not members of the union.
  • The presiding judges: Judge Anthony Ishii referred the case to Magistrate Judge Erica Grosjean.
  • The outcome: The parties reached a settlement.
  • Procedural history

    The plaintiffs were Latana Chandavong and Neng Her. The plaintiffs were represented by attorneys from Mitchell Law, PLLC, and Benbrook Law Group. The defendants were the Fresno Deputy Sheriff's Association (FDSA) and the County of Fresno. The Fresno Deputy Sheriff’s Association was represented by counsel from Messing Adam & Jasmine LLP.

    On April 22, 2021, the court severed the claims of the plaintiffs in Campos v. Fresno Deputy Sheriff’s Association, granting Chandavong and Her "leave to amend their third cause of action against the FDSA for pre-Janus vacation hours that were involuntarily taken when Chandavong and Her were not members of the FDSA." The plaintiffs alleged that the FDSA unlawfully confiscated vacation hours when they were not members of the union. [2]

    Below is a brief procedural history of the lawsuit:[3][1]

    For a list of available case documents, click here.

    Decision

    The parties reached a settlement.[1]

    Legal context

    Janus v. AFSCME (2018)

    See also: Janus v. AFSCME

    On June 27, 2018, the Supreme Court of the United States issued a 5-4 decision in Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (Janus v. AFSCME), ruling that public-sector unions cannot compel non-member employees to pay fees to cover the costs of non-political union activities.[4]

    This decision overturned precedent established in Abood v. Detroit Board of Education in 1977. In Abood, the high court held that it was not a violation of employees' free-speech and associational rights to require them to pay fees to support union activities from which they benefited (e.g., collective bargaining, contract administration, etc.). These fees were commonly referred to as agency fees or fair-share fees.[4]

    Justice Samuel Alito authored the opinion for the court majority in Janus, joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Anthony Kennedy, Clarence Thomas, and Neil Gorsuch. Alito wrote, "Abood was poorly reasoned. It has led to practical problems and abuse. It is inconsistent with other First Amendment cases and has been undermined by more recent decisions. Developments since Abood was handed down have shed new light on the issue of agency fees, and no reliance interests on the part of public-sector unions are sufficient to justify the perpetuation of the free speech violations that Abood has countenanced for the past 41 years. Abood is therefore overruled."[4]

    Related litigation

    To view a complete list of the public-sector labor lawsuits Ballotpedia tracked between 2019 and 2023, click here.


    Number of federal lawsuits by circuit

    Between 2019 and 2023, Ballotpedia tracked 191 federal lawsuits related to public-sector labor laws. The chart below depicts the number of suits per federal judicial circuit (i.e., the jurisdictions in which the suits originated).

    Public-sector labor lawsuits on Ballotpedia

    See also: Public-sector union policy in the United States, 2018-2023

    Click show to view a list of cases with links to our in-depth coverage.

    See also

    External links

    Case documents

    Trial court

    Footnotes