Hartnett v. Pa. State Educ. Ass'n
Hartnett v. Pa. State Educ. Ass'n
Opinion of the Court
On January 18, 2017, Plaintiffs Gregory J. Hartnett, Elizabeth M. Galaska, Robert G. Brough, Jr., and John M. Cress, Pennsylvania public school teachers, (collectively, "Plaintiffs") initiated this action by filing a complaint (Doc. No. 1)
I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
As noted above, through this litigation, Plaintiffs challenge the constitutionality of Pennsylvania's statutory framework governing the compulsory collection of "fair share" union fees from nonmember public school teachers on its face and as applied, maintaining that such fees are a violation of their First Amendment rights. (Doc. No.
*59523.) The Union Defendants' initial defense to this litigation centered on the United States Supreme Court's decision in Abood v. Detroit Board of Education,
On June 27, 2018, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Janus, overruling Abood by a vote of 5-4 and holding that "[s]tates and public-sector unions may no longer extract agency fees from nonconsenting employees." See Janus,
Thereafter, on September 14, 2018, Plaintiffs filed a Motion for Summary Judgment seeking a declaration from this Court that the relevant provisions of Pennsylvania law, as well as the actual "fair share" fee provisions in the respective collective bargaining agreements ("CBAs") applicable to Plaintiffs, are an unconstitutional violation of Plaintiffs' First and Fourteenth Amendment rights and, therefore, null and void, as well as injunctive relief requiring the Union Defendants to remove the "fair share" fee provisions in the CBAs governing Plaintiffs' respective bargaining units, and prohibiting the inclusion of any such provisions in any subsequent CBAs.
At the same time, the Union Defendants filed their Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Jurisdiction, or in the alternative, for Summary Judgment. (Doc. No. 64.) In their motion, the Union Defendants argue that in light of the Janus decision and the measures taken by the Union Defendants to comply with that decision, Plaintiffs can no longer obtain meaningful relief from this Court, and Plaintiffs' claims are moot and subject to dismissal pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. (Id. ¶ 6.) The Union Defendants filed a Statement of Material Facts in Support of their Motion (Doc. No. 64-1), as well as a brief in support (Doc. No. 67). Plaintiffs filed a brief in opposition to the Union Defendants' motion (Doc. No. 71), as well as an Answer to Statement of Facts (Doc. No. 70). The Union Defendants subsequently filed their reply brief, rendering the motion ripe for disposition.
II. RELEVANT LEGAL STANDARD
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) permits a party to move for dismissal for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(1). Article III of the United States Constitution limits the jurisdiction of federal courts to "Cases" and "Controversies." See U.S. Const., art. III, § 2. "A case becomes moot - and therefore no longer a 'Case' or 'Controversy' for purposes of Article III - 'when the issues presented are no longer "live" or the parties lack a legally cognizable interest in the outcome.' " Already, LLC v. Nike, Inc.,
"It is well settled that a defendant's voluntary cessation of a challenged practice does not deprive a federal court of its power to determine the legality of the practice." City of Mesquite v. Aladdin's Castle, Inc.,
*597The Supreme Court has announced a "stringent" standard for "determining whether a case has been mooted by the defendant's voluntary conduct." See Friends of the Earth, Inc. v. Laidlaw Envtl. Servs, Inc.,
Factual challenges to a court's subject matter jurisdiction under Rule 12(b)(1) on the grounds of mootness can be raised at any time in the litigation. See Mortensen v. First Fed. Sav. & Loan Ass'n,
III. DISCUSSION
A. Arguments of the Parties
As noted above, the Union Defendants maintain that the actions taken by them with regard to the Plaintiffs in light of the Supreme Court's decision in Janus have rendered Plaintiffs' requests for declaratory and injunctive relief moot. (Doc. No. 67 at 6, 12-20.)
On the day of the Janus decision, Defendant PSEA
In addition, on July 2, 2018, Defendant PSEA sent letters to all "fair share" feepayers explaining the import of the Janus decision and informing them that it had contacted employer school districts and asked them to immediately stop payroll deduction of "fair share" fees from nonmembers. (Id. ¶ 10.) Defendant PSEA sent such a letter to each of the Plaintiffs, and refunded any portion of "fair share" fees deducted from their payroll accounts prior to June 27, 2018, but attributable to the period after June 27. (Id. ¶ 11.) Defendant PSEA also delivered $ 100 cashier's checks to each Plaintiff to compensate them for their claims of nominal damages in connection with this litigation. (Id. ¶ 12.)
The Union Defendants have submitted Declarations from each of the superintendents in the three school districts employing the four Plaintiffs, declaring that Janus made Pennsylvania's public sector "fair share" fee arrangements unconstitutional and unenforceable and stating that each school district ceased the deduction of "fair share" fees as of June 27, 2018, and will not resume the deduction of such fees in the future. (Id. ¶¶ 13, 15-16.) In addition, the Union Defendants submitted a September 10, 2018 Memorandum of Understanding between the Homer-Center School District and Defendant H-CEA removing the "fair share" fee provision from their CBA. (Id. ¶ 14.)
The Union Defendants also submitted Declarations from the respective Presidents of Defendants TVEA, H-CEA, and EAEA, all representing that the "fair share" fee provisions in their CBAs, in effect until July 31, 2020, August 14, 2020, and June 30, 2020, respectively, are not valid or enforceable, and pursuant to instruction from Defendant PSEA, those Defendants will not seek to collect further "fair share" fees from nonmembers through the respective school districts. (Doc. No. 64-1, ¶ 17, Exs. 7-9.)
The Union Defendants argue that in light of these facts, both Plaintiffs' claim for injunctive relief (directing the removal of and prohibition on "fair share" fee provisions in their CBAs) and declaratory relief (seeking a declaration that Pennsylvania's statutory provisions under which "fair share" union fees from nonmembers are authorized and deducted are unconstitutional and unenforceable) have been rendered moot. (Doc. No. 67 at 14-15.) In support of their position, the Union Defendants point to a post- Janus decision in Danielson v. Inslee,
In response to the Union Defendants' claim that Plaintiffs' requests for declaratory and injunctive relief are now moot, Plaintiffs assert several arguments. As an initial matter, Plaintiffs maintain that the National Education Association ("NEA"), of which Defendant PSEA is a subordinate affiliate, and Defendant PSEA have previously demonstrated a willingness to play "fast and loose with Supreme Court precedent." (Doc. No. 71 at 10.) Second, Plaintiffs argue that this case is not moot because no court has applied Janus to Pennsylvania law, analogizing the instant case (and the obligations of a district court in the aftermath of a relevant Supreme Court decision) to two other high-profile Supreme Court decisions - Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission,
Specifically, with regard to the effect of Obergefell, Plaintiffs point to an Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals decision in Waters v. Ricketts,
Plaintiffs analogize the relief they seek from this Court - a declaration that 71 P.S. § 575(a) - (i) (Pennsylvania's Public Employee Fair Share Fee Law) and the "fair share" fee provisions in Plaintiffs' respective CBAs are invalid, and the issuance of injunctive relief expunging "fair share" fee provisions from the relevant CBAs - to that granted by this court after the Supreme Court decision in Citizens United in General Majority PAC v. Aichele, No. 1:14-cv-332,
Finally, Plaintiffs maintain that this case is not moot because the Union Defendants' "voluntary change" in policy fails to meet their burden to demonstrate that there is no reasonable expectation that the wrongful *600behavior will recur. (Id. at 18-21.) Plaintiffs note that the Third Circuit has described the burden to demonstrate mootness as a "formidable" one, and argue that it is not met by the Union Defendants' statement of intent not to resume illegal activity, pointing to what it describes as the potential for PSEA to "press [its] authority under state law like it has done before," and the fact that only one of the three local union affiliate Defendants has executed a Memorandum of Understanding removing the "fair share" fee provision from the relevant CBA, which Plaintiffs argue "raises questions as to why those two local defendants are resistant to the expungement of the forced fee provision." (Id. at 19-20.) In addition, Plaintiffs maintain that to the extent that the policy articulated by the PSEA as to the cessation of any attempts to collect "fair share" union fees from nonmembers in the wake of Janus provides assurance against the recurrence of the illegal behavior, such assurance does not moot the need for a declaration as to the constitutionality of Pennsylvania law, but instead impacts the scope of potential injunctive relief, again citing Waters and Aichele regarding the aftermath of the Supreme Court's decisions in Obergefell and Citizens United. (Id. at 21-22.)
In their brief in reply, the Union Defendants maintain that the operative point as to mootness - overlooked by Plaintiffs in pressing for a ruling of Janus's impact on Pennsylvania law - is that "because of a significant change in circumstances prompted by Janus, Plaintiffs no longer face the kind of imminent threat of harm necessary to support standing for claims of injunctive and declaratory relief." (Doc. No. 72 at 6.) The Union Defendants maintain that the ruling of Janus - that "States and public sector unions may no longer extract agency fees from nonconsenting employees" - "leaves no room for uncertainty." (Id. ) Accordingly, the Union Defendants argue that the undisputed facts regarding their actions in the wake of Janus attest to the fact that they recognize their responsibility to abide by its holding. (Id. at 6-7.) Along these lines, the Union Defendants point out that on October 17, 2018, Defendant EAEA executed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ellwood Area School District recognizing that Janus rendered the fair share fee provision of their CBA unenforceable, confirming that the school district will no longer deduct "fair share" union fees from non-member paychecks, and removing the unenforceable provision from their CBA. (Doc. No. 72, Addendum at 16.) The Union Defendants also point to guidance issued by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Attorney General and Department of Labor and Industry to all public sector employers confirming that they must stop collecting "fair share" fees from non-union employees
B. Plaintiffs' Claims for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief are Moot
Upon careful consideration of the arguments of the parties, the materials submitted in connection with the Union *601Defendants' motion, and the relevant authorities, the Court is persuaded that Plaintiffs' remaining claims for declaratory and injunctive relief are moot. The change in circumstances that has occurred here as to these Plaintiffs in the wake of the Janus decision, specifically consisting of: (1) the PSEA's immediate steps to cease collection of "fair share" union fees from all non-members of its local union affiliates (including the four Plaintiffs) and to refund any "fair share" fees collected after the date of the Janus decision; (2) the declarations of the superintendents of each school district employing Plaintiffs stating that those districts have ceased deduction of "fair share" fees and will not resume such deductions in the future; (3) the declarations from the respective Presidents of Defendants H-CEA, TVEA, and EAEA representing that the "fair share" fee provisions in their CBAs are not valid or enforceable, and that they will not seek to collect further "fair share" fees; and (4) the Memoranda of Understanding entered into between the Homer-Center School District and the H-CEA and Ellwood Area School District and the EAEA, formally removing the unenforceable provisions from their CBAs,
In addition, the Court finds Plaintiffs' analogies to Obergefell and Citizens United to be inapposite. As to Obergefell, the Union Defendants distinguish the statutes at issue in the post-Obergefell cases as self-enforcing legislative mandates banning the recognition of same-sex marriage or the extension of marital privileges to same-sex couples, while pointing out that the Pennsylvania statute challenged by Plaintiffs here is not self-enforcing, but instead permits the deduction of "fair share" fees in the event that the union would "provide the public employer with the name of the nonmember who is obligated to pay a fair-share fee," as well as the amount of the fee. (Doc. No. 72 at 12) (citing 71 P.S. § 575(c) ). Accordingly, the Union Defendants maintain that as they have confirmed that no such information is being provided or will be provided by the unions to the Plaintiffs' school district employers, the "fair share" fee statute can have no impact on Plaintiffs. (Id. ) As to the post- Citizens United cases, the Union Defendants note that in virtually all of the cases, a live controversy existed because the government defendants did not concede that the challenged state laws were unconstitutional. (Id. at 12-13.) The fact that the court in Aichele found that a live dispute existed over the scope of the remedy for a violation where the state government conceded the unconstitutionality of the statute does not change the Court's conclusion here as to the mootness of Plaintiffs' claims, especially where the question of mootness was not presented to the court in Aichele.
*602The Court addresses one final issue raised by Plaintiffs. In their supplemental filings submitted after the completion of briefing on the pending motions, Plaintiffs have identified several post- Janus CBAs entered into between certain Pennsylvania school districts and their local union affiliates containing "fair share" fee provisions, in an apparent effort to substantiate their claims that the Union Defendants here may resume unlawful deduction of "fair share" fees from the Plaintiffs in this case. (Doc. Nos. 79, 81, 85-89.) However, as surprising as those submissions may be, in light of the fact that none of them involves any of the three school district employers of Plaintiffs, or their respective local union affiliates who are defendants in this litigation, they are irrelevant to the issue as to whether these Plaintiffs' claims have been rendered moot. Absent some reason to doubt that the representations of the school district officials are genuine, the Court will not question the validity of those representations based on language in CBAs applicable to other school districts and other local union affiliates who are not parties to this litigation. See, e.g., Flanigan's Enter., Inc. v. City of Sandy Springs, Ga.,
For all of the foregoing reasons, this Court joins the multiple district courts that have addressed similar arguments in the wake of Janus and have held that plaintiffs' prospective claims for declaratory and injunctive relief were rendered moot under similar circumstances. See Akers v. Md. State Educ. Ass'n,
IV. CONCLUSION
Based on the foregoing, the Court will grant the Union Defendants' Motion to Dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and direct that this case be closed. Plaintiffs' Motion for Summary Judgment will be denied. An appropriate Order follows.
Plaintiffs subsequently filed an amended complaint (Doc. No. 23), which is the operative pleading in this matter.
The following Pennsylvania statutes govern the relationship between public school teachers, public school districts, and collective bargaining units: 71 P.S. § 575, 43 P.S. §§ 1101.101 et seq., and 24 P.S. §§ 1-101 -27-2702.
Plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed their claims against the individual superintendents on March 21, 2017 (Doc. No. 24), and the Court dismissed all claims against the School District Defendants with prejudice by Order dated June 26, 2017 (Doc. No. 51), leaving only the Union Defendants remaining as defendants in the case.
In their Motion for Summary Judgment, Plaintiffs disclaim their initial request for nominal damages because they acknowledge that the Union Defendants have "paid each plaintiff $ 100.00 in nominal damages." (Doc. No. 63 at 4.)
Subsequent to the completion of briefing on Plaintiffs' motion, Plaintiffs have filed seven separate Notices of Supplemental Authority Relevant to Pending Dispositive Motions pursuant to Local Rule 7.36. (Doc. Nos. 79, 81, 85-89.)
The Union Defendants have also filed numerous Notices of Supplemental Authority pursuant to Local Rule 7.36 subsequent to the briefing of their motion. (Doc. Nos. 74-78, 80, 82-84, 90.)
The Union Defendants correctly note that the justiciability of Plaintiffs' claims must be demonstrated "separately for each form of relief sought." See Friends of the Earth,
Defendant PSEA is a "statewide employee organization" under 71 P.S. § 575(a), and is affiliated with Defendants H-CEA, TVEA, and EAEA. (Doc. No. 64-1 ¶ 2.)
See Pa. Att'y Gen., Guidance on the Rights and Responsibilities of Public Sector Employees and Employers Following the U.S. Supreme Court's Janus Decision (Aug. 8, 2018), https://www.attorneygeneral.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/2018-08-03-AG-Shapiro-Janus-Advisory-FAQ.pdf; Pa. Dep't Labor & Indus., Guidance Regarding the June 2018 Janus Supreme Court Decision (Sept. 6, 2018), https://www.dli.pa.gov/Businesses/Labor-Management-Relations/Pages/JANUS-Advisory.aspx.
Although Defendant TVEA has not executed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Twin Valley School District explicitly removing the "fair share" fee provision from its CBA, as Defendants H-CEA and EAEA have done, the President of the TVEA has explicitly declared the "fair share" fee provision of its CBA invalid and unenforceable. (See Doc. No. 64-1, Ex. 6 ¶ 5.) Moreover, the Twin Valley School District superintendent has declared the authority permitting the deduction of "fair share" fees unenforceable. (See Doc. No. 64-1, Ex. 4 ¶¶ 2-5.)
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Gregory J. HARTNETT v. PENNSYLVANIA STATE EDUCATION ASSOCIATION
- Cited By
- 4 cases
- Status
- Published