Posts tagged Fourteenth Amendment
Judicial Watch Urges Federal Probe of Minneapolis Schools’ Union Contract Over Constitutional Concerns
September 8, 2025 // Judicial Watch requests the Office for Civil Rights investigate Article 15 of the collective bargaining agreement between the Minneapolis Public Schools, Special District No. 1 (“MPS”) and the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers Local 59. The contract violates the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Article 15 exempts teachers of color from MPS’s seniority-based layoffs and reassignments, which means, when layoffs or reassignments occur, the next senior teacher who is not “of color” would be laid off or reassigned. The contract also mandates that MPS reinstate teachers of color over more senior teachers who are not “of color.” Prior to the contract, teachers were laid off or reassigned in order of seniority, with the least senior teachers laid off or reassigned first, without regard to race or ethnicity.
Judicial Watch Urges Federal Probe of Minneapolis Schools’ Union Contract Over Constitutional Concerns
September 5, 2025 // Judicial Watch announced today it wrote letters to the Offices of Civil Rights in the Departments of Education and Labor requesting they investigate the collective bargaining agreement between the Minneapolis Public Schools and the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers. The letters point out that the contract violates the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Freedom Foundation Takes the Teamsters to Court
April 16, 2025 // Although Ms. Tarbah is not a member of the Teamsters, a portion of her wages is automatically deducted every pay period and directed into the union’s “Health and Welfare Trust Retiree Plan.” While the plan is presented as a retiree health benefit, the lawsuit alleges that the funds are routinely used for union-driven initiatives that include political and ideological activity. “Karima Tarbah has a constitutional right to decide where her money goes and what causes she supports,” said Timothy Snowball, Litigation Counsel for the Freedom Foundation. “This case is about the fundamental right of every public employee to make choices that align with their own political conscience. California’s laws must align with the Constitution—not empower unions and governments to coerce funding.”
Federal lawsuit filed against Hartford Public Schools over privilege training
January 11, 2024 // “Over the last several years, the Superintendent, with the backing and approval of the Board, has instituted or enforced policies, procedures, and customs to advance critical race theory in Hartford Public Schools, and to force employees like Mr. Grande to acquiesce to that theory,” the complaint states. Grande was subsequently investigated by the school for the comments he made during the breakout session, with Director of Arts and Wellness for HPS Tracy Avicolli, who had facilitated the training, accusing him of “inappropriate and aggressive comments” and indicating that Grande was under investigation in an email sent to everyone who was part of the breakout session except him. Grande claims that the subsequent investigation, which was revealed to him months later, contained misrepresentations, false statements attributed to him and “coached” comments from two other participants.
NEW YORK: Farmington employee sues town over labor union membership
June 12, 2023 // Hinman started working for the town in 2014 and joined the Teamsters in 2018. When he tried to resign his union membership in 2021, union officials refused to allow it and continued to deduct dues from his wages without his consent, Hinman claims. The lawsuit claims Hinman’s First and Fourteenth Amendment rights were violated, as well as his rights under New York state laws. Hinman wants his union membership resignation to be acknowledged and his dues refunded, with interest.
Rhode Island Teacher Unconstitutionally Forced to Choose Between Job and Union
January 10, 2023 // Despite glowing teacher evaluations, John Lancellotta, a public school teacher in Rhode Island, lost his job after exercising his First Amendment right to opt out of his union. By forcing John to choose between supporting the union and keeping his job, the school placed an unconstitutional condition on his employment.
THE SYSTEMIC RACISM OF TEACHERS UNIONS
November 21, 2022 // Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case that could reverse the 2003 Grutter v. Bollinger decision, in which SCOTUS asserted that the use of an applicant’s race as a factor in an admissions policy of a public educational institution does not violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The current case specifically cites the use of race in the admissions process at Harvard and the University of North Carolina. The plaintiffs, Students for Fair Admissions, maintain that Harvard violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, “which bars entities that receive federal funding from discriminating based on race, because Asian American applicants are less likely to be admitted than similarly qualified white, Black, or Hispanic applicants.”
An update on public-sector union vaccine mandate responses
November 5, 2021 //