IAFF Local 3631 Settles Case for Denying Retirement Benefits to Nonmember Firefighter
Union bosses attempted to withhold benefits from employee who exercised First Amendment rights under Janus Supreme Court precedent
Irvine, CA (August 24, 2026) – Peter Crary, a Fire Apparatus Engineer who has served his community for over 20 years with the Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA), has prevailed in his dispute with International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) Local 3631 union bosses, and OCFA officials. IAFF Local 3631 bosses moved to settle after the California Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) issued a complaint against the union for violating Crary’s rights. Crary’s settlement was secured with free legal aid from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys.
Crary filed charges with the PERB against IAFF Local 3631 in late 2025 after union bosses threatened him, stating that as a nonmember, he would be denied access to his retiree healthcare (an IAFF Local 3631 medical benefit trust fund which he contributed to through his wages) unless he rejoined the union and paid back dues for the entire period during which he was a nonmember. The charges detail that forcing union membership and dues payment as a condition for healthcare access is arbitrary and discriminatory, interferes with protected rights, and constitutes a breach of the union’s duty of fair representation.
Charges were also filed against OCFA, noting that while OCFA does not administer IAFF Local 3631’s medical benefit trust fund, as a public agency, its compliance with IAFF Local 3631’s eligibility restrictions based on union membership is a violation of employees’ protected right to refrain from union membership.
Having examined the facts of the case, the PERB issued complaints against IAFF Local 3631 union bosses and OCFA officials, finding that Crary provided sufficient evidence to allege a violation of his rights under the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act and move forward with a hearing to establish the violation. To avoid further litigation, IAFF Local 3631 and OCFA have now settled the case with Crary.
Under the settlement, IAFF Local 3631 union bosses are withdrawing and rescinding the union’s policy denying retirement benefits to nonmembers unless they rejoin and pay dues to the union. Additionally, IAFF and OCFA officials are required to issue a public notice to all OCFA workers informing them that the policy targeting nonmembers has been withdrawn and rescinded.
“I am glad that my complaint and the Foundation’s assistance with reaching a settlement agreement rescinded a policy that I believe coerced firefighters into paying thousands of dollars to rejoin the union in order to avoid losing health insurance in retirement,” stated Crary.
Thanks to the 2018 Foundation-won U.S. Supreme Court Janus v. AFSCME case, Crary and all public employees in California can no longer be required to join or pay dues or fees to a union. Despite the Supreme Court’s decision, as this case shows, California government union bosses have sought to undermine employees’ rights, including by discriminating against those who choose to exercise their First Amendment rights under Janus.
“We are pleased to have been able to assist Mr. Crary in defending his Janus rights against union bosses who just cannot accept that union affiliation and financial support must be voluntary for all public employees,” said National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation President Mark Mix. “Rather than simply attempt to attract the voluntary support of current and retired employees, government union bosses continue to attempt to bully and discriminate against those who choose to exercise their First Amendment rights.
“The Foundation is proud to have secured the Janus victory at the Supreme Court and will continue to assist individuals like Mr. Crary to enforce their rights under Janus,” added Mix.
Chicago 911 Operators Notch Another Janus Victory Over IBEW
The following article is from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation’s bi-monthly Foundation Action Newsletter, January/February 2025 edition. To view other editions of Foundation Action or to sign up for a free subscription, click here.
Foundation attorneys stopped deceptive cycle that kept illegal dues flowing for months
Patricia Whittaker heard ridiculous excuses from IBEW union officials about how they couldn’t honor her Janus rights. But after teaming up with Foundation attorneys, she’s cut off dues to IBEW bosses.
CHICAGO, IL – Another 911 operator employed by the City of Chicago has successfully defended her First Amendment rights under the National Right to Work Foundation-won Janus v. AFSCME Supreme Court decision. Late last year, Operator Patricia Whittaker sought free Foundation legal aid after facing months of stonewalling from International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 21 union officials, who refused to stop taking dues from her paycheck against her will.
Whittaker fought these dues seizures by invoking her First Amendment rights under Janus. Foundation attorneys argued and won the Janus case before the Supreme Court in 2018. The Supreme Court agreed with Foundation attorneys and ruled that union officials could not force public sector employees to pay union dues or fees as a condition of employment, and that union officials must obtain affirmative employee consent before deducting union dues from any public worker’s paycheck.
In October, following unfair labor practice filings by Foundation attorneys at the Illinois Public Employment Relations Board (PERB), IBEW union bosses abandoned their unconstitutional dues demands — and other outrageous behavior they had subjected Whittaker to.
IBEW Union Outrageously Claimed They Had No Power to Stop Dues Deductions
Whittaker faced much more than just illegal dues deductions during her ordeal. IBEW officials engaged in a deceptive cycle in which Whittaker was told to resolve the matter with her employer, while the employer directed her back to the union, resulting in continued dues deductions for over 10 months. In doing so, the charges maintained, union officials misrepresented the law by making it appear as if they were the “good guys” by remitting dues deducted by the City of Chicago through checks back to her and claimed that only the employer — not the union — had the power to end dues deductions.
This isn’t the first time IBEW 21 union officials have been caught imposing illegal dues practices on Chicago 911 employees. In June 2024, Rhonda Younkins also triumphed in her months-long legal battle to exercise her First Amendment right to stop all union dues payments to IBEW Local 21. IBEW Local 21 union officials stopped their violation of Younkins’ Janus rights only after Foundation attorneys filed charges at PERB on Younkins’ behalf.
Independent-Minded Workers Continue to Defend Freedom with Janus
The Janus decision’s impact continues to grow. Immediately following the ruling, nearly a half a million public employees stopped paying union dues, with many others following in subsequent years as litigation backed by Foundation attorneys continues to defend their rights.
“The behavior of IBEW Local 21 union officials highlight just how crucial it is for public employees to be aware of, and assert, their Janus rights,” said National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix.
“While we at the Foundation are proud to help more workers protect their hard-earned money from funding union bosses and union agendas they don’t support, it is unacceptable that it takes aggressive legal action just to force union officials to respect workers’ constitutional freedoms.”
Puerto Rico Police Bureau Employees Foil Anti-Janus Scheme
The following article is from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation’s bi-monthly Foundation Action Newsletter, November/December 2024 edition. To view other editions of Foundation Action or to sign up for a free subscription, click here.
Federal court strikes down discrimination against workers at the Puerto Rico Police Bureau who exercised First Amendment rights
Vanessa Carbonell (center) and other employees of the Puerto Rico Police Bureau won big at the Puerto Rico District Court in September 2024. Their Foundation-won decision forces their employer and the union to stop violating their Janus rights.
SAN JUAN, PR – The National Right to Work Foundation’s 2018 victory at the U.S. Supreme Court in Janus v. AFSCME opened new horizons for employee freedom across the country. For the first time, the Justices recognized that the First Amendment prohibits union bosses from forcing public sector employees to join a union or pay dues as a condition of employment, and that union bosses can only take dues from a worker’s paycheck with their affirmative consent.
Foundation attorneys’ efforts to enforce the landmark decision yielded a big victory this September for a wide swath of civilian employees at the Puerto Rico Police Bureau (PRPB). In a class action federal lawsuit, more than a dozen PRPB employees charged officials of the Union of Organized Civilian Employees with violating their Janus rights by stripping them of an employer-provided health benefit because they refused to join the union.
A recent decision from the District Court of Puerto Rico found in favor of the employees’ arguments, stating that their employer had indeed taken away the health benefit because the employees exercised their right to not join or pay dues to the union.
Scheme Forced Workers to Join Union or Lose Access to Better Healthcare
“This is either retaliation for exercise of non-union members’ post-Janus non-associational rights under the First Amendment under the Constitution or simply discrimination,” said the Court.
According to lead plaintiff Vanessa Carbonell and her colleagues’ original lawsuit, they all exercised their Janus right to opt out of the union at various points after the 2018 Janus decision. They each began noticing that as dues ceased coming out of their paychecks, they also stopped receiving a $25-a-month employer-paid benefit intended to help employees pay for better health insurance.
The lawsuit demonstrated that PRPB officials cut the benefit off to employees who refused union membership — a clear case of discrimination against employees who exercise their First Amendment right to abstain from union affiliation.
Union and Employer Must Stop Discrimination
The District Court’s decision, in addition to declaring that the ploy by PRPB and the Union of Organized Civilian Employees is unconstitutional, orders an injunction to stop PRPB officials from continuing to withhold the benefit from Carbonell and other employees.
“Janus enshrined a very simple First Amendment principle: That union officials need to convince public employees to support their organization and activities voluntarily,” commented National Right to Work Foundation Vice President Patrick Semmens.
