Press Release: Buckeye Institute

Contact: Lisa Gates, Vice President of Comms (614) 224-3255 or Lisa@BuckeyeInstitute.org FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE     January 9, 2019 21 Nationally Renowned Policy Groups Urge U.S. Supreme Court to Hear Buckeye's Case to End Forced Union Exclusive Representation Uradnik v. IFO is First Major Post-Janus Labor Challenge Filed with the Supreme Court Columbus, OH -- Twenty-one nationally renowned public policy organizations filed amicus briefs with the United States Supreme Court in support of The Buckeye Institute's case Uradnik v. Inter Faculty Organization, which calls for an immediate end to laws that force public-sector employees to accept a union's exclusive representation.   The Competitive Enterprise Institute, National Association of Scholars, National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, and a coalition of 18 leading policy organizations all filed briefs in support of Kathy Uradnik's case and are calling on the Supreme Court to hear her case and end compelled exclusive representation.   "Kathy Uradnik has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to protect her First Amendment rights and declare that the laws forcing her to accept representation by a union that has advocated and acted against her interests time and again are unconstitutional," said Robert Alt, president and chief executive officer of The Buckeye Institute and a lead attorney on the case.   The multi-organization brief was filed by the Center for the American Experiment, Alaska Policy Forum, Americans for Lawful Unionism, Americans for Tax Reform, Beacon Center of Tennessee, Center for Worker Freedom, Freedom Foundation, Illinois Policy Institute, Liberty Justice Center (which, together with National Right to Work, successfully brought the Janus v. AFSCME case), Mackinac Center for Public Policy, Maine Heritage Policy Center, Montana Policy Institute, Nevada Policy Research Institute, Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, Rhode Island Center for Freedom and Prosperity, Rio Grande Foundation, Stephen Hopkins Center for Civil Rights, and Wyoming Liberty Group.   "The support Professor Uradnik's case has received confirms it is deserving of review by the U.S. Supreme Court, and the lower courts' refusal to acknowledge that forced exclusive representation violates the First Amendment calls for the Supreme Court's intervention," said Andrew M. Grossman, a partner at BakerHostetler in Washington, D.C., and counsel of record on the Uradnik v. Inter Faculty Organization petition.   Kathy Uradnik's case was originally filed on July 6, 2018, in the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota, with a preliminary injunction motion filed on July 31, 2018. On December 4, 2018, The Buckeye Institute filed a petition in Uradnik v. Inter Faculty Organization with the Supreme Court of the United States -- the first major post-Janus labor challenge to reach the Supreme Court.   The Buckeye Institute was the first organization to file lawsuits calling on courts to end compelled exclusive representation following the Janus decision, and is representing Professor Kathy Uradnik in Minnesota, Jade Thompson in Ohio, and Professor Jonathan Reisman in Maine. # # #   Founded in 1989, The Buckeye Institute is an independent research and educational institution -- a think tank -- whose mission is to advance free-market public policy in the states. The Buckeye Institute is a non-partisan, non-profit, and tax-exempt organization, as defined by section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue code. As such, it relies on support from individuals, corporations, and foundations that share a commitment to individual liberty, free enterprise, personal responsibility, and limited government. The Buckeye Institute does not seek or accept government funding.