Jackson Lewis: Indiana Supreme Court Upholds Constitutionality of Right-to-work Law | Practical Law
In this Law Firm Publication, Jackson Lewis P.C. discusses the Indiana Supreme Court's upholding of the state's right-to-work law. The Indiana Right-to-Work Law prohibits employers from requiring their employees to be members of a union or pay union dues as a term or condition of employment. In Zoeller v. Sweeney, the Indiana Supreme Court reversed a lower court decision finding the law unconstitutional. Federal labor law requires a union that is the exclusive representative of a bargaining unit to represent all bargaining unit employees. The union argued that the interplay between this law and the Indiana Right-to-Work Law unconstitutionally denies the union compensation when it represents non-dues-paying employees. The court held that nothing requires the union to be the exclusive bargaining representative of a bargaining unit and that it must accept the responsibilities of that designation. Zoeller featured only a facial challenge to the right-to-work law, not as applied to the case's facts. The Indiana Supreme Court will soon hear an appeal of another case challenging the Indiana Right-to-Work Law, in which the same lower court found the law unconstitutional.