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Abuse of Discretion – Collective Bargaining Agreement

By: Derek Hawkins//December 31, 2018//

Abuse of Discretion – Collective Bargaining Agreement

By: Derek Hawkins//December 31, 2018//

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7th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Theresa Riffey, et al. v. Bruce V. Rauner

Case No.: 16-3487

Officials: WOOD, Chief Judge, and MANION and HAMILTON, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Abuse of Discretion – Collective Bargaining Agreement

When this case was last before our court, we upheld the district court’s decision declining to certify a class of home health care assistants (“the Assistants”) who were seeking a refund of the fair-share fees they had paid to a union for collective-bargaining representation. We agreed with the putative class that no one could be compelled to pay fair-share fees, pursuant to the Supreme Court’s decision in Harris v. Quinn, 134 S. Ct. 2618 (2014), and that any such objector would be entitled to have his or her payments refunded. The only question on the table was whether, with that common issue resolved, the district court abused its discretion when it determined that for purposes of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(b)(3), issues common to the class would not predominate over individual issues and a class action would not be a superior vehicle for resolving the claims. Any person who wished to pursue an individual claim for a refund remained free to do so.

Seeking review of our decision, the putative class representatives filed a petition for a writ of certiorari in the Supreme Court. On June 28, 2018, the Court granted that petition and remanded the case to this court for further consideration in light of Janus v. State, County, and Municipal Employees, 138 S. Ct. 2448 (2018). See 138 S. Ct. 2708 (2018) (remand order). In accordance with Circuit Rule 54, we invited and have received statements from the Assistants and from one of the appellees, SEIU Healthcare Illinois & Indiana, discussing the proper course for us now to take. Governor Rauner elected not to file a statement.

We conclude that Janus does not require a different result on the narrow question presented in our appeal, namely, whether the class-action device is the proper one for the Assistants to use in seeking refunds of fair-share fees. We therefore once again affirm the decision of the district court declining to certify the requested class.

Affirmed

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.

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