Federal judge throws out suit seeking to overturn Act 10
Lawsuit brought by union groups after law upheld in other cases
MADISON - A federal judge on Wednesday threw out a lawsuit seeking to overturn former Gov. Scott Walker’s signature law that sharply limited collective bargaining for most public employees in Wisconsin.
The lawsuit over the law known as Act 10 was brought by two arms of the International Union of Operating Engineers after state and federal courts upheld the law in other cases. The union intends to file a new lawsuit, according to a motion filed by its attorneys.
Union officials filed the latest lawsuit in 2018, dropped it months later and revived it in May to name Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul as defendants.
U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman agreed to throw out the lawsuit after Kaul in July argued the court did not have jurisdiction because the case had previously been closed.
Attorneys for the union agreed with Kaul and didn’t object to the lawsuit’s dismissal, according to court records.
In their challenge, the unions argued Act 10 violates free speech and free association under the First Amendment and “has caused and continues to cause irreparable injury to the unions.”
Locals 139 and 420 together represent more than 10,000 workers in Wisconsin.
Kaul in the request for dismissal called the attempt to revive the lawsuit after voluntarily dropping it “improper,” but said that if the groups wish to challenge the law, they could do so in a new lawsuit.
“Plaintiffs can litigate their constitutional challenge to Act 10 if they so choose, just not in this closed case,” Kaul said in the filing.