Ocean Township teachers want Supreme Court to weigh in on New Jersey union escape period’ law

(The Center Square) – Two Ocean Township public school teachers want the U.S. Supreme Court to invalidate a New Jersey law mandating an “escape period” in union contracts.

Jeanette Speck and Susan Fischer also want the nation’s highest court to bar the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) and the state from enforcing future “escape period” mandates.

They say the requirement runs afoul of the 2018 Supreme Court Janus v. AFSCME decision. In the case, justices ruled limiting the window to stop paying mandatory union dues is an illegal restriction on First Amendment rights.

“With opposition to these schemes growing among public employees, the Supreme Court must quickly take up this issue and clarify that Janus does not permit union bosses to profit from curtailing workers’ constitutional rights,” National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix said in a statement.

The teachers unsuccessfully tried to stop paying dues shortly after the Janus decision. They sued the state and the NJEA, arguing a state law passed shortly before the ruling is unconstitutional.

In 2019, a federal court dismissed the suit, and an appeals court affirmed the ruling. Foundation attorneys petitioned the Supreme Court in the case and a separate case from Chicago.

The teachers also want their union dues and their coworkers’ dues refunded. The Supreme Court could hear the case in September.

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