Appeals court revives lawsuit against teachers union’s ‘taxpayer subsidized political speech’

Two north metro residents who sued Minnesota’s largest school district to stop it from using tax dollars to subsidize teachers who engage in political activities are allowed to continue their lawsuit, a federal court of appeals ruled last week.

On Aug. 11, the U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a March 2024 lower court decision, ruling that Don Huizenga and Jim Bendtsen have legal standing to continue their case against the Anoka-Hennepin School District’s practice of subsidizing its teachers union’s political activities with “paid leave.”

The latest appellate court ruling in the lawsuit clears the way for the case to be decided on its merits, after a Biden-appointed federal judge dismissed the case, ruling the plaintiffs didn’t have standing.

If successful, the petition could present a major blow to teachers unions who — through collective-bargaining agreements with school districts — utilize paid leave so their member teachers can engage in political activities during the school day.

“This is a victory for our taxpayer clients and another crucial win in our series of forced speech and subsidy cases,” said attorney Doug Seaton, president of the Upper Midwest Law Center, which represents the plaintiffs. “After two Appeals Court victories over technical issues, we have now paved the way to get a final ruling that this taxpayer-subsidized political speech by the Teachers’ Union is unlawful and must stop.

“This ruling would be a powerful precedent for the entire Eighth Circuit and a model for the rest of the country, as this practice is widespread wherever government unions are recognized. Taxpayers and others involved in schools should not have to support views they don’t agree with,” Seaton added.

Lawsuit filed five years ago over collective-bargaining agreement between district, union

In December 2020, Huizenga and Bendtsen, who live in the Anoka-Hennepin School District boundaries, filed a petition in U.S. District Court alleging that the teachers union was using taxpayer dollars to campaign for political positions they don’t agree with. They alleged that compelled political speech is a violation of their First Amendment rights.

According to the lawsuit, the collective-bargaining agreement between the Anoka-Hennepin chapter of Education Minnesota and the school district allows union teachers to take a collective 100 days per year to work for the union.

The union doesn’t reimburse the district for the full cost of employees’ benefits and salaries for days worked for the union, and uses those days to engage in political activity, like door-knocking and phone-banking for union-backed candidates and causes, the lawsuit says.

The complaint seeks a permanent injunction prohibiting the district from “subsidizing union leave” and asks the court to order the union to reimburse the district for all union leave.

Biden-appointed judge who dismissed case has history of donating to Democrats

In its Aug. 11 decision, the Eighth Circuit overruled the April 2024 opinion of Judge Jerry Blackwell, who was appointed to the federal bench in 2022 by then-President Joe Biden.

In his March 2024 decision dismissing the case, Blackwell said the plaintiffs’ argument “is of the same kind made in households every day—that wages should be higher and expenses lower or that government spending should be more, less, or allocated differently. Without more, merely disagreeing with how the government determines rates or prices for its goods or services, including reimbursements, does not grant standing under Article III.”

Judge Blackwell has a history of donating to Democrat politicians prior to his confirmation as a federal judge, including Gov. Tim Walz and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison. As an attorney, Blackwell was in the national spotlight as a member of Ellison’s prosecution team in the Derek Chauvin murder trial.

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