A new class-action lawsuit announced this week against a Pennsylvania union could result in more than $1 million in union dues being returned to state social services employees.

The Liberty Justice Center, which is the organization credited with the success of the landmark Janus v. AFSCME ruling, on Monday announced it filed a new lawsuit against the Service Employees International Union Local 668 on behalf of plaintiff Catherine Kioussis in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

The suit alleges SEIU Local 668 unlawfully deducted fees from non-union members’ paychecks in 2017 and 2018 and is seeking reimbursement of the withheld funds in the two-year span of time.

With the landmark Janus v. AFSCME in place, Brian Kelsey, senior attorney at the Liberty Justice Center and the lead attorney in the new SEIU case, said he is confident the new suit will be successful.

“It really is a fairly simple, straightforward legal issue,” Kelsey said in an interview with The Center Square.

Kioussis, who has been an income maintenance supervisor with the state since 2008, is one of about 2,000 employees who could receive recouped pay if the suit is successful. Across Pennsylvania, SEIU represents about 19,000 workers.

The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, which, like the Liberty Justice Center, is a nonprofit organization, is also providing its resources – including attorney expertise – in the new suit.

Kelsey said the Liberty Justice Center chose to work with the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation because the two organizations share a similar mission.

“We’re working together to continue to fight for workers’ rights,” Kelsey said.

In a statement, Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, said the new suit against SEIU Local 668 and others like it are putting union heads on notice about when dues and other fees can and cannot be collected.

“This includes the thousands of Pennsylvania state workers this case is filed for, who join public employees across the country in simply seeking the return of money that never should have been taken from them in the first place,” Mix said in the statement.

SEIU officials have not publicly commented this week on the lawsuit. The union this year has been lobbying for the proposed $15-per-hour minimum wage increase under Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration.

“As Pennsylvania continues to lag behind surrounding states in raising its minimum wage beyond the federal level, workers must rely on public assistance or multiple jobs to prevent themselves from living in poverty,” Steve Catanese, president of SEIU Local 668, said in a statement about the union’s thinking.

The suit filed this week on Kioussis’ behalf comes on the heels of other legal filings in Pennsylvania on the issue of public sector unions.

Other organizations, such as Harrisburg-based Fairness Center, have filed similar lawsuits.

This includes the thousands of Pennsylvania state workers this case is filed for, who join public employees across the country in simply seeking the return of money that never should have been taken from them in the first place.

Mark Mix

President of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation