Abbotsford Education Association v. Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission, 2024AP002429

In 2023, several unions and individual plaintiffs sued, alleging Act 10 and Act 55 violated Wisconsin equal protection by differently treating public safety employees. 1
The circuit court denied dismissal, held Act 10 unconstitutional, and later struck numerous Act 10 and Act 55 provisions. 2
The circuit court reasoned that Act 10 rationally separated general employees from public safety employees, but irrationally excluded certain similarly situated public safety occupations. 3
The State, the Legislature, and an intervenor teacher appealed, arguing Act 10 was rationally based and that the remedy was overbroad or otherwise improper. 4
The court of appeals reversed, holding the challenged provisions do not violate the Wisconsin Constitution and directing dismissal of the action. 5

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Act 10's public-safety classifications violate equal protection 6	Unions said excluded public-safety employees were similarly situated and arbitrarily denied retained bargaining rights	State and Legislature said Act 10 had rational fiscal and labor-peace justifications	No; Act 10 has a rational basis and survives equal protection 7
Whether Madison Teachers and WEAC control 8	Unions said those cases did not address this exact classification or bind this court	Appellants said both cases already upheld Act 10 under rational-basis review	Yes; they are binding or highly persuasive and support reversal 9
Whether laches bars the suit 10	Unions said laches cannot bar a substantive constitutional challenge	Legislature said the 11-year delay caused unfair prejudice	Not reached; reversal on the merits made laches unnecessary 11

Madison Teachers, Inc. v. Walker, 358 Wis. 2d 1, 851 N.W.2d 337 (Wis. 2014) (upheld Act 10 under rational-basis review and treated Wisconsin and federal equal protection as coextensive 12)
Wisconsin Educ. Ass'n Council v. Walker, 705 F.3d 640 (7th Cir. 2013) (rejected equal-protection challenges to Act 10's bargaining, recertification, and dues-deduction provisions 13)
Gabler v. Crime Victims Rts. Bd., 376 Wis. 2d 147, 897 N.W.2d 384 (Wis. 2017) (constitutional challenges are reviewed de novo 14)
State v. McManus, 152 Wis. 2d 113, 447 N.W.2d 654 (Wis. 1989) (statutes enjoy a strong presumption of constitutionality 15)
State ex rel. Hammermill Paper Co. v. La Plante, 58 Wis. 2d 32, 205 N.W.2d 784 (Wis. 1973) (unconstitutionality must be shown beyond a reasonable doubt 16)
Metropolitan Assocs. v. City of Milwaukee, 332 Wis. 2d 85, 796 N.W.2d 717 (Wis. 2011) (sets Wisconsin's five-factor rational-basis test 17)
Clarke v. Wisconsin Elections Comm'n, 410 Wis. 2d 1, 998 N.W.2d 370 (Wis. 2023) (laches does not bar substantive constitutional challenges 18)
Heller v. Doe, 509 U.S. 312 (U.S. 1993) (rational-basis review does not permit courts to second-guess legislative wisdom 19)