Agreeing with WILL, Supreme Court allows case to remain with Court of Appeals

The News: The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) issued a statement following the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s denial of a bypass petition in Abbotsford Education Association v. WERC, which would have allowed the state’s highest court to rule on the merits of Act 10 immediately, entirely circumventing the Court of Appeals.  

WILL argued for denial of the bypass in a recent court filing and represents a teacher’s interests in this monumental case to decide the future of Act 10 in Wisconsin. 

The Quote: Lucas Vebber, WILL Deputy Counsel, stated, “We are pleased the Supreme Court agreed with us— that there was no need to skip over the Court of Appeals in this case. We look forward to representing our client’s interests by zealously defending Act 10 at the Court of Appeals. The Plaintiffs wrongly seek to overturn a fifteen-year-old law under a legal challenge that has already been tried and rejected elsewhere.” 

Our Client: WILL Client Kristi Koschkee, is a teacher who has benefited from Act 10. Koschkee faces significant harm if Act 10 is somehow repealed or scaled back. She does not want her local union interfering with her relationship with her employer by bargaining on subjects beyond those permitted by Act 10. She supports Act 10’s provisions requiring unions to rectify themselves annually through a vote of employees and does not want to be pressured into participating in recertification elections if she does not want to, as Act 10 allows. 

Additional Background: This case was originally brought in Dane County Circuit Court, which found that Act 10’s classifications of certain employees violated the Wisconsin Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection and based on that declared nearly all of the law unconstitutional. That decision has been stayed pending appeal. The Plaintiffs filed a petition with the Supreme Court, asking them to take the case immediately, and skip the Court of Appeals altogether—today the Supreme Court denied that petition outright. The case will now proceed through the normal appellate process.