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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS

EASTERN DIVISION

Ariadna Ramon Baro,

No. 20-CV-2126

Plaintiff, 

v. Judge John F. Kness

Lake County Federation of Teachers 

Local 504, IFT-AFT/AFL-CIO and 

Waukegan Community Unit School 

District #60

First Amended Complaint

Defendants.

1. Government employees have a First Amendment right not to be 

compelled to pay any dues or fees to a union unless an employee affirmatively 

consents to waive that right. Janus v. AFSCME, 138 S. Ct. 2448, 2486 (2018).

“[W]aiver cannot be presumed. Rather, to be effective, the waiver must be freely 

given and shown by ‘clear and compelling’ evidence.” Id.

2. For a waiver of constitutional rights to be effective it must be clearly 

established that there was an intentional relinquishment or abandonment of a 

known right or privilege. Brookhart v. Janis, 384 U.S. 1, 4 (1966).

3. In this case, the union membership card Plaintiff Ariadna Ramon Baro 

signed is not clear and convincing evidence that she provided affirmative consent to 

waive her right not to pay money to the union because it was not an intentional 

relinquishment of a known right or privilege.

4. Ms. Ramon Baro, therefore, brings this case under 42 U.S.C § 1983

and 28 U.S.C. § 2201(a), seeking declaratory relief, damages in the amount of the 

dues previously deducted from her paychecks, and punitive damages.

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PARTIES

5. Plaintiff Ariadna Ramon Baro is J-1 Visa holder employed by 

Defendant Waukegan Community Unit School District #60 (“District”).

6. Defendant Lake County Federation of Teachers, Local 504, IFTAFT/AFL-CIO (“Union” or “Local 504”) is a labor union with offices at 248 Ambrogio 

Drive, Gurnee, Illinois 60031. Local 504 is the certified exclusive representative for 

the bargaining unit to which Ms. Ramon Baro belongs. The Union is a labor 

organization under Section 2(c) of the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act, 115 

ILCS 5/2(c).

7. Defendant District has offices at 1201 North Sheridan Road, 

Waukegan, Illinois 60085. It serves nearly 17,000 students in preschool through 

grade twelve through its fifteen elementary schools, five middle schools, and a high 

school program. It is an educational employer under Section 2(a) of the Illinois 

Educational Labor Relations Act, 115 ILCS 5/2(a).

JURISDICTION AND VENUE

8. This case raises claims under the First and Fourteenth Amendments of 

the U.S. Constitution and 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The Court has subject-matter 

jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1331 and 28 U.S.C. § 1343.

9. Venue is proper because a substantial portion of the events giving rise 

to the claims occurred in the Northern District of Illinois. 28 U.S.C. 1391(b)(2).

FACTS

10. Plaintiff Ariadna Ramon Baro is employed by the District as an

English-as-a-second-language teacher for high school students. She is a J-1 Visa 

holder from Barcelona, Spain employed by the District under a cultural exchange 

program. The 2019-2020 school year is her first of three years that she will be 

employed by the District.

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11. In August 2019, she attended an orientation meeting held by the 

District. During the orientation, the District provided information and training. The 

District also gave Local 504 time at the orientation meeting to speak about the 

union. During that presentation, Local 504’s representative told Ms. Ramon Baro 

and her fellow teachers how much money in union dues they would have to pay and 

gave them a form to sign to join the Union. Ms. Ramon Baro was not told that 

joining or paying the Union was optional. Believing it to be required, she filled out 

the union membership form and turned it in to the representative. Exhibit A. At 

the time she signed the union membership agreement, she was unaware of the 

Supreme Court’s Janus decision. 

12. A few days later, Ms. Ramon Baro learned that union membership and 

paying the union was, in fact, not required. 

13. On August 30, 2019, she sent letters both to the District and the Union 

resigning her membership. Exhibits B and C.

14. On September 13, 2019, a pair of the union representatives emailed 

the teachers of Ms. Ramon Baro’s school, including Ms. Ramon Baro, to invite them 

to join the union. The initial email from one of the representatives, Cara Wyatt, 

stated, “I am contacting you to extend an invitation to join the Waukegan teacher’s 

union.” In response, another representative, Nathaniel Weber, stated “Just to 

clarify, you will pay union dues regardless of whether or not you are a member.” 

Exhibit D. This statement by Mr. Weber was not true, but Ms. Ramon Baro did not 

know it was not true. In fact, the Supreme Court held in Janus, 138 S. Ct. at 2486, 

that requiring government employees to pay money to a union with their consent 

violates the First Amendment. 

15. Ms. Ramon Baro believed the statement by Mr. Weber — that she 

would have to pay dues regardless of her union membership status — meant that 

her request to resign was effectively denied. 

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16. In January 2020, on her second paycheck of the month, the District 

began deducting dues from Ms. Ramon Baro’s paycheck and remitting them to the 

Union. 

17. On February 3, 2020, Ms. Ramon Baro again contacted her union 

representative and the payroll department of the District and explained that she 

wanted to resign her membership and stop paying dues. The payroll department of

the District told Ms. Ramon Baro that they could not stop dues and she must speak 

to the Union. The President of Waukegan Council of Local 504, Andy Friedlieb, 

contacted her explaining that she would have to wait until August to resign her 

membership and stop union dues from being deducted. Exhibit E.

18. Ms. Ramon Baro filed her initial complaint in this case on April 3,

2020. On April 15, she received a letter from Local 504 President, Michael T. 

McGue, dated April 10, 2020, informing her that she is no longer a member of the 

Union, and that dues would stop being withheld from her paycheck. The letter also 

included a check for $829.30, representing “a full refund of all [Ms. Ramon Baro’s]

dues plus an additional five hundred dollars for your efforts in pursuing this 

matter.” Exhibit F.

19. The District continued to withhold union dues from Ms. Ramon Baro’s 

paycheck on behalf of the Union until the April 15, 2020 paycheck, from which dues 

were not withheld. 

20. Ms. Ramon Baro responded to Mr. McGue’s letter on April 17, 2020, 

referring him to her counsel, and returning the check. Exhibit G. 

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CAUSE OF ACTION

Local 504 and the District violated Ms. Ramon Baro’s 

First Amendment right to free speech by withholding

union dues from her paycheck without clear evidence that she 

intentionally relinquished her right not to pay money to the Union.

21. The allegations contained in all preceding paragraphs are incorporated 

herein by reference.

22. In Janus v. AFSCME, the Supreme Court held the First Amendment 

guarantees public employees a right to refrain from subsidizing a union and its 

speech. 138 S. Ct. at 2486. “By agreeing to pay, nonmembers are waiving their First 

Amendment rights, and such a waiver cannot be presumed.” Id. For a waiver to be 

effective, it must be freely given and shown by “clear and compelling” evidence.

Without clear and affirmative consent by an employee before money is taken from 

them, this standard cannot be met. Id. 

23. For a waiver of constitutional rights to be effective it must be clearly 

established that there was an intentional relinquishment or abandonment of a 

known right or privilege. Brookhart, 384 U.S. at 4.

24. One cannot waive a constitutional right — intentionally relinquish a 

known right — without knowledge that they are entitled to that right and that they 

are engaging in an action to waive that right. See Johnson v. Zerbst, 304 U.S. 458, 

464 (1938).

25. Government employers and exclusive-representative unions cannot 

presume government workers have knowledge of their right not to pay money to the 

union under Janus. Id. at 465.

26. Thus, government employers and exclusive-representative unions may 

not withhold union dues or fees from government workers without clear and 

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convincing evidence that those workers have knowledge of their right not to pay 

money to a union.

27. At the time she signed the union membership card, Ms. Ramon Baro 

did not know she had a right to not subsidize the Union and did not know that by 

signing the union membership card she was relinquishing that right.

28. The District and the Union have never had clear and convincing 

evidence that Ms. Ramon Baro had knowledge of her right to not pay money to the 

union and intentionally relinquished that right.

29. The fact that Ms. Ramon Baro signed the union membership card is 

not clear and convincing evidence that she knew that she had a right to not join or 

pay money to the union or that she intentionally wished to relinquish that right.

30. The union membership card itself does not provide any indication that 

by signing it an employee waives their First Amendment right to not pay money to 

the Union. Nor did the Union or the District inform her of her right to not join or 

pay money to the Union before she signed the union membership card. And as a 

Spanish citizen working on a J-1 visa, Ms. Ramon Baro would especially have no 

reason to have knowledge of American constitutional law.

31. Worse, Ms. Ramon Baro was given false information by a union 

representative, asserting (wrongly) that teachers would have to pay union dues 

regardless of whether they were members or not. Thus, not only did Ms. Ramon 

Baro not have knowledge of her right not to subsidize the union, but she was 

informed (falsely) of the opposite — that she was required to subsidize the union no 

matter what. 

32. When she contacted the Union, informing them that she had not 

understood her Janus rights, she was told that she would have to continue paying 

dues until August 2020. 

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33. Illinois law authorizes union dues deductions until a limited “opt-out 

window.” 115 ILCS 5/11.1(a).

34. As a result, the District deducted dues from Ms. Ramon Baro’s

paycheck and gave them to Local 504 under color of state law.

35. Local 504 acted in concert with the District to collect union dues from 

Ms. Ramon Baro’s paycheck without her knowing waiver and refused to allow her to 

cancel her dues until after she filed this lawsuit. In doing so, Local 504 acted under 

color of state law.

36. The actions of Local 504 and the District constitute a violation of Ms. 

Ramon Baro’s First Amendment rights to free speech and freedom of association not 

to join or financially support a union without her affirmative consent freely given 

after knowing waiver.

37. Ms. Ramon Baro is entitled to a declaration that the union 

membership card she signed does not constitute clear and convincing evidence that 

she intentionally relinquished her right to not pay money to the Union because it 

does not provide evidence that she knew of this right or that she intentionally 

relinquished it by signing the union membership card.

38. Ms. Ramon Baro is entitled to a declaration that the actions of the 

District and Local 504 to withhold union dues or fees from her paycheck without 

clear and convincing evidence establishing that she intentionally relinquished her 

right to not pay money to the Union violate the First Amendment.

39. Ms. Ramon Baro is entitled to a declaration that the actions of the 

District and Local 504 to withhold union dues or fees from her paycheck without 

clear and convincing evidence establishing that she knew she had a right to not pay 

money to the Union violate the First Amendment.

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40. Based on those declarations and findings, under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, Ms. 

Ramon Baro is entitled to damages in the amount of all dues deducted and remitted 

to Local 504 from April 2019 to present.

41. Ms. Ramon Baro is entitled to punitive damages against Local 504 

because its actions were at a minimum recklessly indifferent to Ms. Ramon Baro’s 

federally protected rights — if not maliciously motivated — given the fraudulent 

statement made by its representative, which caused Ms. Ramon Baro substantial 

personal and professional distress.

PRAYER FOR RELIEF

Ms. Ramon Baro respectfully requests that this Court:

a. Declare that the union membership card she signed does 

not constitute clear and convincing evidence that she intentionally 

relinquished her right to not pay money to the Union because it does 

not provide evidence that she knew of this right or that she 

intentionally relinquished it by signing the union membership card;

b. Declare that the actions of the District and Local 504 to

withhold union dues or fees from her paycheck without clear and 

convincing evidence establishing that she intentionally relinquished 

her right to not pay money to the Union violate her First Amendment 

rights;

c. Declare that the actions of the District and Local 504 to

withhold union dues or fees from her paycheck without clear and 

convincing evidence establishing that she knew she had a right to not 

pay money to the Union violate her First Amendment rights;

d. Award damages against Local 504 for all union dues 

collected from her;

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e. Award punitive damages against Local 504 because its 

actions were at a minimum recklessly indifferent to Ms. Ramon Baro’s 

federally protected rights — if not maliciously motivated — given the 

fraudulent statement made by its representative;

f. Award her costs and attorneys’ fees under 42 U.S.C. § 

1988; and

g. Award her any further relief to which she may be entitled 

and such other relief as this Court may deem just and proper.

Dated: April 24, 2020 Respectfully submitted,

/s/ Jeffrey M. Schwab

Jeffrey M. Schwab (IL Bar. No. 6290710) 

James J. McQuaid (IL. Bar. No. 6321108)

Liberty Justice Center

190 South LaSalle Street, Suite 1500

Chicago, Illinois 60603

Telephone (312) 263-7668

Facsimile (312) 263-7702

jschwab@libertyjusticecenter.org

jmcquaid@libertyjusticecenter.org

Attorneys for Plaintiff

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