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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS

EASTERN DIVISION

SALVATORE PRESTA, et al., 

Plaintiffs, No. 20-CV-2723

v. Hon. Judge Rebecca R. Pallmeyer

COOK COUNTY COLLEGE TEACHERS 

UNION AFT LOCAL 1600, et al. JOINT STATUS REPORT

Defendants.

The parties submit this Joint Status Report in compliance with the Court’s 

October 1, 2020 order directing the parties to do so within 14 days after a decision on 

the merits by the Seventh Circuit in Bennett v. AFSCME, Council 31, et al.

1. On May 5, 2020, Plaintiffs filed this action, raising two claims: 

(1) Plaintiffs allege that their First Amendment rights were 

violated when the union and their employer withheld union dues 

from their paychecks because their signing of union membership 

cards prior to the Supreme Court’s decision in Janus v. 

AFSCME Council 31, 138 S. Ct. 2448, 2486 (2018) did not 

constitute affirmative consent to waive their alleged First 

Amendment right under Janus to not pay money to the union; 

and 

(2) Plaintiffs allege that Illinois state law requiring that a union 

serve as an exclusive bargaining agent for all employees in a 

bargaining unit violates the free speech and free association 

rights of Plaintiffs by granting the union the power to 

speak/lobby on their behalf to their employer, a government 

entity, even though they are no longer members and do not wish 

to associate with the union.

2. On June 30, 2020, the parties jointly submitted a motion to stay 

proceedings, based on the fact that Bennett v. AFSCME, Council 31, et al., No. 20-

1621, a case raising the exact same two claims that Plaintiffs raise in this case, was 

Case: 1:20-cv-02723 Document #: 32 Filed: 03/26/21 Page 1 of 3 PageID #:109
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at that time pending before the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh 

Circuit.

3. On July 6, 2020, this Court entered an order granting the joint motion 

to stay the case, and stayed this matter pending the outcome of Bennett in the 

Seventh Circuit. 

4. On October 1, 2020, this Court entered an order continuing the stay in 

this case and directing the parties to issue a joint status report within 14 days of 

the Seventh Circuit’s decision in Bennett, or by March 30, whichever was sooner.

5. On December 3, 2020, this Court entered an order striking the State 

Defendants’ motion to dismiss without prejudice to renewal, the only outstanding 

motion at the time the stay was entered. 

6. On March 12, 2021, the Seventh Circuit panel issued its opinion in 

Bennett, affirming the District Court’s order granting summary judgment on both of 

plaintiff’s claims for defendants, and denying summary judgment for plaintiff. 

7. The parties agree that the Bennett decision is dispositive of both of

Plaintiffs’ claims raised in this case.

8. Thus, the parties request that this Court remove the stay in this case 

and grant the parties 21 days to discuss among themselves how to proceed in light 

of their agreement that Bennett is controlling precedent on this case, and file the

appropriate motion(s) or other filings.

Dated: March 26, 2021

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Respectfully Submitted, 

By: /s/ Jeffrey Schwab

Jeffrey M. Schwab 

James J. McQuaid 

Liberty Justice Center

208 South LaSalle Street, Suite 1690

Chicago, Illinois 60604

Telephone (312) 637-2280

Facsimile (312) 263-7702

jschwab@libertyjusticecenter.org

jmcquaid@libertyjusticecenter.org

Attorneys for Plaintiffs

By: /s/ Joshua B. Shiffrin

Joshua B. Shiffrin

John M. West

Leon Dayan

BREDHOFF & KAISER, P.L.L.C.

805 Fifteenth Street N.W., Suite 1000

Washington, DC 20005

(202) 842-2600

jshiffrin@bredhoff.com

jwest@bredhoff.com

ldayan@bredhoff.com

By: /s/ Hal Dworkin

Hal Dworkin

Assistant Attorney General

Office of the Illinois Attorney General 

100 W. Randolph Street, 13th Floor

Chicago, Illinois 60601

(312) 814-5159

HDworkin@atg.state.il.us

Attorney for State Defendants

George A. Luscombe, III

Robert E. Bloch

DOWD, BLOCH, BENNETT, 

CERVONE, AUERBACH & YOKICH

8 S. Michigan Avenue, 19th Floor

Chicago, Illinois 60603

Telephone: (312) 372-1361

gluscombe@laboradvocates.com

rebloch@laboradvocates.com

Attorneys for Defendant Cook County 

College Teachers Union AFT Local 1600

By: /s/ Daniel E. Cannon

Daniel E. Cannon

Kusper & Raucci Chartered

30 N. LaSalle Street

Suite 2121

Chicago, Illinois 60602

(312) 332-5000 ext. 344

dec@kusperraucci.com

Attorneys for South Suburban College

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