Judge rules against state employees’ bid to recoup union dues retroactively

Agency fees that public employee unions charge to nonmembers only apply prospectively under the U.S. Supreme Court's Janus ruling last year on union dues, a Sacramento County judge has ruled.

Superior Court Judge David I. Brown dismissed a proposed class action and told two government employees who did not belong to the unions they sued that they must take their grievance to the Public Employment Relations Board.

The former state employees who are not union members -- Jeff Lyon and Karen Sanberg -- sued SEIU after having to pay an agency fee each month despite never consenting to do so, according to the complaint.

Lyon was employed in various positions with the state's Department of General Services from July 2001 until his retirement in December 2014. From 2001 to 2011, he had to pay $40 a month. Sandberg worked for the state from 1989 through 2015 and was never a member of any union but was required to pay $90 a month for agency fees.

Plaintiffs' attorneys sought the money, but the judge rejected their argument in a tentative ruling finalized Monday. Lyon v. Union of California State Workers, 34-2018-00236695-CU-BU-GDS (Sac. Super. Ct. filed July 10, 2018).

"For the foregoing reasons, this court concludes that the Supreme Court's own precedent pertaining to civil retroactivity ... warrants that the holding in Janus is prospective only," Brown wrote.

Instead, he ruled the employee claims were preempted by the Dills Act, a state law that covers certain claims of state workers. The court has no jurisdiction over the lawsuit, Brown ruled.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June 2018 it was unconstitutional to force nonmembers to pay mandatory fees to public unions. Janus v. AFSCME Council 31, 2018 DJDAR 6308.

The question of whether nonmembers could get their money back retroactively for payments ruled unconstitutional by the high court has been the subject of litigation since.

Plaintiffs in the Lyon case were represented by Eric M. George of Browne George Ross in Los Angeles. Defendants were represented by Jeffrey B. Demain of Altshuler Berzon LLP in San Francisco along with attorneys Anne M. Geise of SEIU Local 1000 and Claire P. Prestel of the SEIU.

Plaintiff's counsel could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

The case was important to get dismissed to send the message that plaintiffs cannot avoid PERB's exclusive jurisdiction by filing their claims in court, when the state agency is the appropriate forum, said Demain.

"If people are following the law, they shouldn't be sued later for doing something that was legal at the time they did it," he added.