Pollyanna Burns v. School Svc Emp Union Local 284, 75 F.4th 857

Background

Three food-service managers employed by Independent School District 191 signed union membership/dues authorization agreements with SEIU Local 284 (two in 2015, one in 2019) that authorized payroll deduction of monthly dues and included an automatic annual renewal unless revoked in a 30–45 day pre‑anniversary window.
On March 5, 2020 the employees notified the union they were terminating membership, outside the contract’s revocation window; the school district continued to deduct dues until the agreements’ anniversary dates.
The employees sued the school district and Local 284 under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (First and Fourteenth Amendments) and asserted state law claims (conversion, unjust enrichment, civil theft, tortious interference, unlawful wage deductions).
The district court dismissed the federal claims for failure to state a claim and declined supplemental jurisdiction over the state claims; plaintiffs appealed.
The appeal turned on whether (a) Janus‘s prohibition on compelled payments extends to union members who executed dues‑deduction agreements, and (b) whether the deductions (by the union or the public employer) constituted actionable state action under § 1983.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether automatic payroll deductions of union dues pursuant to a member’s signed authorization violate the First Amendment after Janus	Dues are "any other payment" referenced in Janus; automatic deductions without affirmative, post‑Janus consent violate members’ First Amendment rights	Members voluntarily signed and affirmatively authorized deductions; Janus addressed nonmembers and does not create a new waiver rule for members	The court held no First Amendment violation: Janus does not extend to voluntary member agreements to deduct dues
Whether deductions by the private union constitute state action under § 1983	The union’s deduction practice, in context of public employment, implicated constitutional rights and § 1983 liability	The union’s deductions flowed from a private contract and are not state action	The court (following Hoeckman) held the union’s deductions were not state action, so § 1983 claims against the union fail
Whether the public employer’s role in implementing deductions renders it liable under § 1983	The employer’s ministerial role in making deductions converts the acts into state action and subjects it to § 1983 liability	The district contends it merely honored a private agreement and, even if state action, the First Amendment claim fails because members consented	Assuming state action for argument’s sake, the court held members consented by contract and therefore no constitutional violation; judgment affirmed

Key Cases Cited

Abood v. Detroit Bd. of Educ., 431 U.S. 209 (1977) (upheld agency fees for nonmembers under prior precedent)
Janus v. Am. Fed’n of State, Cnty., & Mun. Emps., Council 31, 138 S. Ct. 2448 (2018) (overruled Abood; held extraction of fair‑share fees from nonmembers violates the First Amendment absent affirmative consent)
Lugar v. Edmondson Oil Co., 457 U.S. 922 (1982) (state action test for § 1983 liability)
Manhattan Cmty. Access Corp. v. Halleck, 139 S. Ct. 1921 (2019) (private conduct is not state action absent acts rooted in state authority)
Hoeckman v. Educ. Minnesota, 41 F.4th 969 (8th Cir. 2022) (union dues deducted pursuant to a private agreement are not state action)
Belgau v. Inslee, 975 F.3d 940 (9th Cir. 2020) (Janus does not extend a right to avoid paying dues for voluntary union members)
Bennett v. Council 31 of the Am. Fed’n of State, Cnty., & Mun. Emps., 991 F.3d 724 (7th Cir. 2021) (members who voluntarily authorized deductions may not challenge them under Janus)
Hendrickson v. AFSCME Council 18, 992 F.3d 950 (10th Cir. 2021) (similar conclusion that Janus does not create new waiver requirements for members)
Cohen v. Cowles Media Co., 501 U.S. 663 (1991) (contracts and promises enforceable under state law are not avoided by invoking the First Amendment)