Opinion ID: 774940
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Discrimination Between Challengers And Objectors

Text: 23 Under the Union's procedures, professors who object to paying full union dues are offered two options:Class I Objection or Class II Objection. A Class I Objecting Agency Fee Payer is an employee in the collective bargaining unit who (1) does not choose to join United Academics; (2) objects to the use of his or her service fees for purposes unrelated to collective bargaining, contract administration and grievance adjustment; and (3) accepts the reduced agency fee as determined by United Academics. Upon receiving a Class I objection notice, United Academics promptly issues a rebate of the total amount in excess of the Union's determined agency fee that had been deducted to date. Further refunds are made before dues are deducted or are unnecessary because the future monthly dues are reduced to the appropriate amount. Class I objectors waive their right to challenge the amount of the fee before an impartial arbitrator and may not have their fees reduced based on the outcome of another objector's arbitration. 24 A Class II Objecting Agency Fee Payer is an employee in the collective bargaining unit who (1) does not choose to join United Academics; (2) objects to the use of his or her service fees for uses unrelated to collective bargaining, contract administration and grievance adjustment; and (3) objects to the reduced service fee as determined by United Academics. Under the Union's procedure, a Class II objector requests that an impartial arbitrator promptly hear the objector's challenge. If United Academics receives a timely Class II objection, the Union requests that the American Arbitration Association (AAA) appoint an independent arbitratorto hold a hearing to determine the percentage of the union's budget for the service fee year that will be expended for chargeable activities. Class II objectors are required to agree that (1) the arbitrator may approve the Union's calculations or increase or decrease the amount attributable to non-chargeable activities; (2) the full amount of the agency fee that the Union receives will be retained in an interest-bearing escrow account until the arbitrator resolves the challenge; and (3) United Academics will thereafter transmit to the objector that amount of the fee attributable to non-chargeable activities as determined by the arbitrator, plus interest as appropriate. 25 Appellants contend that United Academics provides an immediate advance reduction to those professors who merely object but do not challenge the fee calculation (Class I objectors), while the Union denies an immediate advance reduction to those professors exercising their right to challenge its fee calculation (Class II objectors). Appellants allege that by doing so, United Academics intends to discourage challenges to the Union's fee calculation. We disagree and conclude that the district court correctly rejected Appellants' challenge to the procedures. 26 In reaching its decision, the district court relied upon Grunwald v. San Bernardino City Unified Sch. Dist., 994 F.2d 1370 (9th Cir. 1993), in which this court upheld a similar procedure whereby dues were deducted and placed in an escrow pending resolution by an arbitrator. In Grunwald , nonunion teachers brought suit challenging a procedure in which the school district deducted one-tenth of the annual union dues for each of the ten months the teachers worked, regardless of whether the teacher was in the union or not. See id. at 1372. The union members' deductions were sent to the unions while the agency fee payers' deductions were placed in an interest bearing escrow account. See id. To receive a refund, nonmembers were required to submit a letter objecting to the union's discretionary use of fees. See id. at 1373. Nonmembers could either accept the union's calculations and receive a rebate for the entire year or dispute the union's calculations and request that an arbitrator decide the percentage of the refund. See id. Plaintiffs challenged the deduction-escrow-refund procedure claiming the school district could not deduct more than what the union was entitled to receive for collective bargaining purposes, even temporarily. See id. 27 The court recognized that a system whereby full dues are removed and the objecting employee bears the burden of seeking a refund potentially burdens employees' constitutional rights unless the procedure serves a legitimate purpose and is administered in a fair and impartial fashion.  Id. at 1375. Yet, after reviewing the disputed procedure, the court concluded: 28 [i]deally . . . the union would collect from nonmembers only that amount used for representational purposes. But that is not so easy to accomplish in practice. Here, the union has advanced a legitimate reason for the procedure it has adopted: Its ranks and the ranks of the agency fee payers change from year to year. Mindful of this fact, the union has come up with a procedure that strikes a proper balance between the union's right to charge fees for collective bargaining activities and the plaintiffs' First Amendment right to be free from forced contribution to causes with which they disagree. Tyranny of the majority this is not. 29 Id. at 1377. 30 The procedure at issue is similar to the procedure upheld in Grunwald. If a professor objects but accepts the computation of the reduced agency fee as determined by United Academics, regular monthly deductions of the full agency fee are taken from the objector's salary, and the non-chargeable amount is either rebated by the Union or simply deducted from the objector's monthly agency fee. If a professor objects but wishes to challenge the reduced agency fee as determined by United Academics, regular monthly deductions based upon the full agency fee are taken from the challenger's salary and immediately placed into an interest bearing escrow account until an impartial arbitrator resolves the challenge. If the challenger prevails, he or she is entitled to the monetary value of any correction by the arbitrator. Thus, both challengers and objectors are subjected to regular monthly deductions based on the full agency fee and are entitled to a rebate of the non-chargeable amounts. 31 While it is true that challengers do not receive a rebate until the dispute is resolved by an impartial arbitrator, we conclude that the Union's procedures comply with the Hudson standards. First, the procedures provide for a reasonably prompt decision by an impartial decisionmaker. Hudson, 475 U.S. at 307. Challengers have their objections addressed in an expeditious, fair, and objective manner. Id. Second, challengers' fees are placed in an interest-bearing escrow account. Thus, there is no risk that challengers' money can be used by the Union for non-representational purposes pending resolution of the challenge. See Grunwald, 994 F.2d at 1374. In addition, United Academics' procedures provide for a reasonably prompt refund of the nonchargeable amounts. See id. at 1377. Finally, the Union has provided an adequate explanation for adopting the deduction-escrow-refund procedure at issue. Hudson, 475 U.S. at 309. As the district court noted, the agency fee payers in the current action vary from year to year. The individual salaries do not go into effect until faculty members return in September to commence the work year. Prior to that time, the Union cannot easily contact new faculty members to determine if they wish to object or challenge the agency fees. Thus, we conclude that the deduction-escrow-refund procedure that United Academics has adopted for professors who challenge the Union's computation of fees is appropriately justified. Grunwald, 994 F.2d at 1376. Accordingly, we reject Appellants' challenge to the two-class objection system. 32