Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →
Terry Klee v. International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 501, et al.
Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, No. 23-3304 · judgment January 21, 2025
Before the decision, well below the 4.1% base rate, with no standout signals pointing toward a grant.
Question presented
In Janus v. AFSCME, Council 31, 585 U.S. 878 (2018), this Court held that public-sector employees have a First Amendment right to choose not to pay dues to public-sector unions. Ever since, unions and recalcitrant states have searched for creative ways around that decision. This case involves the latest such effort. California law provides that the state must deduct union dues from an employee’s wages upon certification from the union that the employee is a union member, and that the deductions cannot stop until the union informs the state that the employee opted out. But unions are not quick to share news of resignations with the state, as this case demonstrates. Petitioner told his union to cancel his membership in December 2019, but the union did not do so until nearly two years later, after extracting nearly $1,000 more in union dues. Petitioner therefore sued the union (and state officials) under 42 U.S.C. §1983 to vindicate his First Amendment right and recover damages. But in the decision below, the Ninth Circuit held that petitioner has no remedy, as the union purportedly did not act “under color of state law” when invoking the aid of state officials to seize his wages (and the state officials enjoy sovereign immunity). That decision renders Janus rights nugatory, conflicts with this Court’s state-action precedent, and entrenches a circuit split. The question presented is: Whether a public-sector union that invokes the aid of state officials to deduct union dues from a nonconsenting public-sector employee acts “under color of law” for purposes of 42 U.S.C. §1983.
Counsel of record
For petitioner
Erin E. Murphy
Clement & Murphy, PLLC
For respondent
Richard Francis Griffin Jr.
Bredhoff & Kaiser P.L.L.C.
Proceedings
- Dec 08 2025Petition DENIED.
- Nov 12 2025DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 12/5/2025.
- Oct 29 2025Reply of petitioner Terry Klee filed.
- Oct 10 2025Brief of respondent International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 501 in opposition filed.
- Oct 10 2025Brief of respondents California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, et al. in opposition filed.
- Aug 15 2025Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including October 10, 2025, for all respondents.
- Aug 14 2025Motion to extend the time to file a response from September 10, 2025 to October 10, 2025, submitted to The Clerk.
- Aug 11 2025Response Requested. (Due September 10, 2025)
- Jul 30 2025DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/29/2025.
- Jul 24 2025Brief amici curiae of National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, Inc., et al. filed.
- Jul 17 2025Waiver of right of respondents California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, et al. to respond filed.
- Jul 14 2025Brief amici curiae of West Virginia, et al. filed.
- Jul 11 2025Waiver of right of respondent International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 501 to respond filed.
- Jun 20 2025Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due July 24, 2025)
- May 14 2025Application (24A979) granted by Justice Kagan extending the time to file until June 20, 2025.
- May 09 2025Application (24A979) to extend further the time from May 21, 2025 to June 20, 2025, submitted to Justice Kagan.
- Apr 21 2025Application (24A979) granted by Justice Kagan extending the time to file until May 21, 2025.
- Apr 10 2025Application (24A979) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from April 21, 2025 to May 21, 2025, submitted to Justice Kagan.