Abeel v. PEF
CASE SUMMARY
The Fairness Center represents John Abeel, a New York State employee who resigned from his union, the Public Employees Federation, AFL-CIO (“PEF”), in March 2021. But his resignation has been ignored for months on end while state officials continue deducting union dues from his paycheck. Mr. Abeel is a Research and Collections Technician for the New York Department of Education. He decided that he no longer wanted to be a union member, but the union and the state have not recognized him as a nonmember of the union nor have they stopped taking money from his paycheck. Mr. Abeel thus brings this lawsuit to vindicate his constitutional rights not to be forced to be associated with or to financially support a union.
John Abeel v. The Public Employees Federation, AFL-CIO; Thomas P. DiNapoli, in his official capacity as the New York State Comptroller; Michael N. Volforte, in his official capacity as Director of the Governor’s Office of Employee Relations.
This case was filed in Federal District Court in the Northern District of New York.