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By Derk Wilcox
A Rhode Island teacher who faced retaliation for opting out of union membership won a $60,000 settlement in September with the help of the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation. This case underscores the importance of protecting the freedom of teachers to decide whether to belong to a union without fear of losing their jobs.
John Lancellotta began teaching Spanish and Italian for West Warwick Public Schools in 2018. Lancellotta, who previously taught for 12 years in another district, had consistently received excellent performance reviews and no complaints from students, parents or colleagues. Despite this strong record, his decision to leave the West Warwick Teachers’ Alliance in December 2019 appeared to prompt the district to terminate his employment.
Lancellotta first informed his union representative that he was considering opting out in February 2019. The representative warned him that the district had not employed a non-union teacher in at least 27 years. After that conversation, Lancellotta was asked to meet with his department head, who was an active member of two union committees, along with the union representative.
Later that year Lancellotta left the West Warwick Teachers’ Alliance. Within a week his department head requested a meeting with administrators that resulted in the district not renewing his contract, effectively firing him.
The Mackinac Center, along with Rhode Island attorney Joseph Larisa Jr., filed a federal lawsuit in 2022 arguing that the district violated Lancellotta’s First and Fourteenth Amendment rights. The lawsuit alleged that Lancellotta was fired in retaliation for his leaving the union, a blatant violation of his constitutional rights.
An administrative appeal revealed that the decision to terminate Lancellotta was based solely on the recommendation of the department head and active union members. Further investigation uncovered close coordination between the district’s attorneys and the union’s legal team, raising concerns about fairness in the process.
Before the parties reached a settlement, the judge determined that if Lancellotta was terminated for exercising his First Amendment right not to have to pay a union, it would constitute a First Amendment violation. This was the first time in the nation that this has been ruled on since the U.S. Supreme Court held in Janus v. AFSCME that public employees have a constitutional right to refuse to pay dues or fees to public sector unions.
Although the district denies wrongdoing, this settlement reminds us that public sector employees have a right to make their own decisions about union membership and should not face punishment for exercising those rights. The Mackinac Center remains vigilant in ensuring that unions and districts uphold teachers’ constitutional rights.
