Buckeye Institute Press Release

Contact: Lisa Gates, Vice President of Comms (614) 224-3255 or Lisa@BuckeyeInstitute.org FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE     February 26, 2019 26 Eminent Policy Groups Call on U.S. Supreme Court to Hear The Buckeye Institute's Case Uradnik v. IFO Uradnik v. IFO is First Major Post-Janus Labor Challenge Filed with the Supreme Court   Columbus, OH -- On Monday, February 25, five 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.   These latest amicus brief filings bring the number of public policy groups in support of Uradnik to a sizeable total of 26.   Cato Institute, Freedom Foundation, Goldwater Institute, and Pacific Legal Foundation filed briefs in support of Kathy Uradnik, calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to hear her case and end compelled exclusive representation.   "Kathy Uradnik's case asks the critical question, if it violates the First Amendment to compel financial support for union advocacy, as the Supreme Court ruled in Janus, how on earth can states require these same public employees to speak through unions that many of them choose not to join? We are hopeful that the court will agree to hear Kathy's case and will put an end to forced union exclusive representation," said Robert Alt, president and chief executive officer of The Buckeye Institute and a lead attorney on the case.   The Cato Institute brief was also signed by Connecticut's Yankee Institute.   "Uradnik v. IFO offers the Supreme Court another opportunity to protect the First Amendment rights of millions of public-sector employees across the country and end laws that force our public servants to accept a union's exclusive representation," said Andrew M. Grossman, a partner at BakerHostetler in Washington, D.C., and counsel of record on the Uradnik v. Inter Faculty Organization petition.   Earlier this year, Competitive Enterprise Institute, National Association of Scholars, National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, and a coalition of 18 policy organizations led by the Center of the American Experiment, also filed briefs in support of Kathy Uradnik's case.   Uradnik v. IFO was originally filed in the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota on July 6, 2018, 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.