A federal judge in Pittsburgh has agreed to stay a lawsuit involving the right of state employees to resign their union membership at any time.

U.S. District Court Judge Cathy Bissoon signed the joint motion to pause proceedings after the state and the Service Employees International Union, Local 668, said they reached a tentative agreement on the issue.

Three Greensburg-based employees of the state Department of Labor & Industry sued the union in January, saying they wanted to resign their membership but had only a 15-day window to do so.

The plaintiffs work as disability claims adjudicators in the department’s Bureau of Disability Determination in downtown Greensburg and tried to resign their union membership in July 2018.

Gov. Tom Wolf, the Department of Labor & Industry and several state officials also were named as defendants because the union has a three-year contract with the state. The current contract, which covers about 9,000 public sector employees, expires June 30.

The Greensburg employees contended that in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Janus v. AFSCME, Council 31, they should have an unrestricted right to leave the union and be awarded a refund of dues deducted after their resignations.

In the Janus case, the Supreme Court in 2018 ruled 5-4 that public sector unions cannot charge nonmembers an “agency fee” as a condition of employment. The court said such a practice is a form of compelled speech and, thus, a violation of the First Amendment.

Last week, Local 668 and the state reached a “side letter” agreement saying that any state employee who is or becomes a member of Local 668 can resign from the union at any time. The agreement supersedes the provisions of the current contract.

Officials with the union and the state reached a tentative agreement on a new four-year contract May 31. The tentative agreement follows the principles of the “side letter” agreement, according to the joint motion.

The Fairness Center, a Harrisburg-based public interest law firm that represents the Greensburg employees, reacted positively to the development.

“It makes sense to stay the case until the new (contract) is ratified and to continue discussions with opposing counsel for the commonwealth and the SEIU,” said David Osborne, Fairness Center president and general counsel.

The order to stay the case does not mean that the lawsuit has been dismissed, the motion said.

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