Union Doesn’t Have to Refund Fees as Judge Tosses Class Action (2)

A public sector union in Washington state doesn’t have to refund fees it received from nonmembers prior to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling saying such fees couldn’t be required, a federal judge ruled.

An American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees affiliate followed the then-applicable laws in good faith that allowed it to require nonmembers to pay “agency fees” for the costs of collective bargaining and other nonpolitical expenses, U.S. District Judge Robert Bryan in Tacoma said in his Nov. 28 decision.

Bryan’s ruling appears to be the first judgment in the raft of class actions seeking to claw ...