CUNY Profs. Trapped in ‘Anti-Semitic’ Union Appeal to U.S. Supreme Court

Professors petition SCOTUS to free them from the representation of a union they believe hates them; a favorable ruling could affect public employees nationwide

July 22, 2024, New York, Ny.—Can public employees be forced to accept the representation of a union that they believe hates them? That question is at the heart of a lawsuit that six City University of New York (CUNY) professors have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear.

The professors, five of whom are Jewish, explain in their Petition for Writ of Certiorari that the Professional Staff Congress-CUNY (PSC) issued a statement in 2021 that encouraged support for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement and referred to Israel as an “apartheid” state. The professors viewed the union’s action as “anti-Semitic” and “anti-Israel,” and five of the professors joined more than 100 others in resigning their PSC memberships in protest.

“I see in this union the kind of anti-Semitism that my family suffered while they were trapped in the Soviet Union,” said plaintiff Avraham Goldstein, a CUNY mathematics professor. “I want no part of this organization, but the law says I have no escape. I must accept its representation, no matter how it treats Jews.”

If the Court accepts the professors’ case and rules in their favor, employees who disagree with their public-sector union would have their rights recognized in a fundamentally new way. The professors and other public employees could win true freedom from unwanted union representation, and public-sector unions could lose the right to force employees to accept their representation even when it’s unwanted.

The Supreme Court’s 2018 decision in Janus v. AFSCME held on First Amendment grounds that nonmember public employees could not be forced to pay fees to a union. But Janus did not address the reality that the professors now face: As nonmembers, they nonetheless must accept the exclusive representation of a union they believe is anti-Semitic. They cannot choose other representation or represent themselves with their employer.

Lower courts have dismissed the case, citing Supreme Court precedent in Minnesota State Board for Community Colleges v. Knight, making clear that only the high court can provide the professors with the relief they seek. The professors’ petition argues that their forced union representation violates the professors’ First Amendment rights of free speech and association, stating:

The Court should correct the dangerous misapprehension among lower courts that Knight allows states to dictate that individuals must accept particular advocacy groups as their exclusive representatives. The Court should grant this petition to clarify Knight and make clear that the First Amendment protects individuals’ right to dissociate themselves from advocacy groups that support policies contrary to their deeply held beliefs.

“Our clients’ case puts in stark terms the First Amendment problems with allowing public-sector union officials to force an entire bargaining unit to accept their representation,” said Nathan McGrath, president and general counsel for the Fairness Center. “No one should have to associate with a union they believe hates them.”

The plaintiffs are represented by the Fairness Center and National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys.

PLAINTIFFS

• Avraham Goldstein is a tenured assistant professor of mathematics at CUNY. An Orthodox, Zionist Jew and ordained rabbi, Goldstein was born in the Soviet Union and his family settled in Israel after fleeing Soviet anti-Semitism. He later immigrated to New York to pursue his academic career. He holds a Ph.D. from the CUNY Graduate Center. Read his story in The Wall Street Journal.
• Jeffrey Lax is a professor of law and a department chair at CUNY. He is an Orthodox Jew and a Zionist who has a long history of fighting anti-Semitism on campus. In a previous case brought by Lax, the EEOC determined that CUNY and PSC leaders discriminated against him on the basis of religion and ethnicity. Lax is a founder of Students, Alumni, and Faculty for Equality on Campus (S.A.F.E Campus), which advocates for Zionist Jews on campus, and is a frequent commentator on anti-Semitism in academia. He holds a J.D. from Cardozo School of Law and an MBA from Baruch College Zicklin School of Business. Read his story at the New York Daily News.
• Frimette Kass-Shraibman is an accounting professor at CUNY. She is an Orthodox, Zionist Jew from Brooklyn, New York, who hopes to emigrate to Israel after concluding her career at CUNY, where she has taught accounting courses for 25 years. She is a practicing CPA and holds a Ph.D. from New York University.
• Michael Goldstein is a higher education officer at CUNY and has worked at the university for more than 30 years. Goldstein, whose father served as CUNY’s Acting Chancellor, is a Zionist Jew who has experienced threats, harassment, and other anti-Semitic attacks from members of the PSC and has required a guard to protect him on campus. He holds a J.D. from CUNY School of Law.
• Mitchell Langbert is a business professor at CUNY. He is a Zionist Jew who has long opposed the PSC’s political activities and has filed previous complaints concerning what he sees as inadequate representation and hostility to Jews by union officials.
• Maria Pagano is a psychology professor at CUNY. She is not Jewish but is dissatisfied with the PSC’s representation and disagrees with its political stances, including its resolution encouraging support for the BDS movement. She holds a Ph.D. from the CUNY Graduate Center.

CASE TIMELINE

• June 2021: PSC approves a “Resolution in Support of the Palestinian People,” which many of its members view as anti-Semitic and anti-Israel.
• January 2022: Six professors file a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, seeking to reject the PSC’s representation.
• November 2022: A judge dismisses the case in an opinion based on Knight.
• March 2023: Plaintiffs appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
• March 2024: The Second Circuit dismisses the case in an opinion based on Knight.
• July 2024: Plaintiffs petition the U.S. Supreme Court.

Goldstein and Fairness Center attorneys are available for comment. Please contact Anna Kertland at media@fairnesscenter.org or 844.293.1001 to schedule an interview.

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The Fairness Center is a nonprofit, public interest law firm offering free legal services to those hurt by public-sector union officials. For more information visit www.FairnessCenter.org.

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