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Xenia Davidsen, a custodian with the City of Everett, has initiated legal proceedings against the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 2 and her employer. The complaints, filed at Washington State's Public Employment Relations Commission (PERC), allege a violation of her First Amendment rights due to the unauthorized deduction of union dues from her wages. Davidsen is supported in her legal action by the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation.
Davidsen's case is anchored in the precedent established by the Janus v. AFSCME Supreme Court ruling. This decision protects American public employees from compulsory union dues if they choose not to support the union. The ruling specifies that union dues can only be collected from employees who voluntarily waive their Janus rights, a protection that extends to states like Washington that do not have Right to Work laws.
According to Davidsen, she opted out of her union membership and requested to stop dues payments. However, she claims the City of Everett continued to deduct dues from her paycheck despite her request. AFSCME officials are accused of accepting these deductions without notifying the employer to correct the issue or refunding the money to Davidsen.
