(LOS ANGELES) — On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists launched the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust and, exactly one year later, the Freedom Foundation has announced the filing of a lawsuit against the United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA) and the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) on behalf of four Jewish teachers locked against their wishes into a pro-Hamas, anti-Semitic labor union. 

“In the aftermath of the deadly Hamas attacks, UTLA used membership dues to subsidize anti-Semitic school board candidates, curriculum and rhetoric,” said Shella Alcabes, the Freedom Foundation’s California litigator. “When educators objected, UTLA retaliated by intimidating Jewish teachers and barring dissenters from union activities. Our lawsuit seeks to put an end to this and hold UTLA accountable.”

On behalf of four maligned but courageous teachers blocked from escaping a union that feels compelled to invest even negotiations over wages and working conditions with attacks on their faith, the Freedom Foundation’s suit asserts that “exclusive representation,” which forces public employees to forfeit First Amendment rights as a condition of employment, is unconstitutional.

Los Angeles teachers clearly have a constitutional right to refuse to fund UTLA’s discriminatory and anti-Semitic policies by canceling their membership and dues, but California law presumes it can force public school teachers, including non-members, to accept union representation.