Hannay v. Kent State: Difference between revisions

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==See also==
==See also==
* [[Public-sector union policy in the United States, 2018-present]]  
* [[Public-sector union policy in the United States, 2018-2023]]  
* ''[[Janus v. AFSCME]]''
* ''[[Janus v. AFSCME]]''
* ''[[Abood v. Detroit Board of Education]]''
* ''[[Abood v. Detroit Board of Education]]''

Latest revision as of 03:16, 29 August 2023

Hannay v. Kent State
Case number: 5:19-cv-00951
Status: Terminated
Important dates
Filed: April 29, 2019
District court decision: September 27, 2019
Appeals court decision:
District court outcome
The plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed the lawsuit after their resignations from the union were recognized.

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.

Hannay v. Kent State was dismissed voluntarily from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio on September 27, 2019. The plaintiffs challenged AFSCME’s policy of restricting union membership resignation to 15-day opt-out windows, arguing that union dues authorizations signed before Janus v. AFSCME were unenforceable.[1]

HIGHLIGHTS
  • The parties to the suit: The plaintiffs were Adda Gape, Annamarie Hannay, and John Kohl. The defendants were Catherine L. Ross, F. Jack Witt III, Donald L. Mason, Margot James Copeland, American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, Ohio Council 8, Robin M. Kilbride, Shawn M. Riley, Virginia C. Addicott, Ralph M. Della Ratta, Todd C. Davidson, Stephen A. Perry, Kent State University Employees Local 153, Michael D. Solomon and Robert S. Frost.
  • The issue: Can unions enforce authorizations signed before Janus v. AFSCME, including authorizations that restrict union resignation to 15-day opt-out windows?
  • The presiding judge(s): Judge John R. Adams was assigned to the case. Adams was appointed to the court in 2003 by President George W. Bush (R).
  • The outcome: The plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed the lawsuit after their resignations from the union were recognized.
  • Procedural history

    The plaintiffs were Adda Gape, Annamarie Hannay, and John Kohl. They were represented by The Buckeye Institute and Liberty Justice Center. The defendants were Catherine L. Ross, F. Jack Witt III, Donald L. Mason, Margot James Copeland, American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, Ohio Council 8, Robin M. Kilbride, Shawn M. Riley, Virginia C. Addicott, Ralph M. Della Ratta, Todd C. Davidson, Stephen A. Perry, Kent State University Employees Local 153, Michael D. Solomon and Robert S. Frost. They were represented by Kastner, Westman & Wilkins, and Bredhoff & Kaiser. The plaintiffs in Hannay v. Kent State first filed their lawsuit on April 29, 2019, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. The plaintiffs alleged that the unions prevented membership resignation outside of yearly 15-day opt-out windows and that the unions continued to withhold dues from the employees’ paychecks based on checkoff authorizations signed prior to Janus v. AFSCME. The plaintiffs argued that these authorizations did not meet the standard for affirmative consent required by Janus, and argued that this violated their First Amendment rights. The plaintiffs sought refunds for all union dues deducted without their consent.[1]

    • April 29, 2019: Plaintiffs Adda Gape, Annamarie Hannay, and John Kohl filed their lawsuit against all defendants.
    • August 20, 2019: The defendants filed a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim and for lack of jurisdiction.
    • September 24, 2019: The plaintiffs filed a motion to dismiss the case voluntarily after the union agreed to recognize the plaintiffs’ membership resignation.
    • September 27, 2019: The court dismissed the suit.

    For a list of available case documents, click here.


    Decision

    On September 27, 2019, Judge John R. Adams dismissed the case after the plaintiffs filed a motion to dismiss the case voluntarily. The matter was settled out of court when the union recognized the employees’ resignation attempts; in exchange, the plaintiffs voluntarily withdrew the case.[2] John R. Adams was appointed to the court in 2003 by President George W. Bush (R).

    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.[3]

    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.[3]

    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."[3]

    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