Freedom Foundation Sues DSHS, SEIU For Violating Individual Providers' 1st Amendment Rights

Freedom Foundation Sues DSHS, SEIU For Violating Individual Providers’ 1st Amendment Rights

Stephanie Olson
February 18, 2016

On Thursday, the Freedom Foundation filed a lawsuit on behalf of a Washington individual provider against the Department of Social and Health Services and Service Employees International Union 775 for violating providers’ First Amendment rights.

Individual providers receive Medicaid funding to provide care for individuals receiving Medicaid services. The State requires that these providers undergo basic training and ongoing continuing education classes as a condition of receiving Medicaid payments.

The collective bargaining agreement between the State and SEIU mandate that representatives from SEIU have sole and exclusive access to providers who undergo required contracting appointments, basic training, and continuing education classes. SEIU receives the first 15 minutes and 30 minutes of contracting appointments and basic training, respectively, where SEIU extols its views on matters of public concern, solicits membership, and requests donations to political committees. Providers must sit through the presentations as a condition of employment, and thus are compelled by the State to listen to SEIU’s propaganda sessions.

The plaintiff in the case, Ken Alvarez, is an individual provider who provides care to his disabled fiancé and was forced to attend and sit through such a mandated meeting with SEIU. Union representatives meet with individual providers multiple times a year, where thousands of providers are forced to meet with SEIU and listen to its heavily laden pro-union presentations.

However, the First Amendment protects the freedom of speech. As part of the freedom of speech, courts have held that the First Amendment prohibits compelled speech.

The State and SEIU violate individual providers’ First Amendment rights by forcing IPs to be inundated with union propaganda during mandatory training sessions and continuing education classes. Providers should not be subjected to this kind of union harassment in order to receive funding to care for the elderly or disabled.

What makes it even more egregious is the fact that the State is using taxpayer money and property to fund these SEIU meetings. This constitutes a violation of the Washington Constitution, as well as Washington’s ethics laws.

The Freedom Foundation seeks to stop such mandated meetings and secure individual providers’ freedom against compelled listening.

- Litigation

Stephanie Olson

Litigation Counsel

Stephanie Olson serves as the Foundation’s Litigation Counsel. Stephanie graduated from the University of Washington School of Law with Honors, where she served as the Symposium Editor for the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy and the Articles Editor for the Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts. She also externed at the Western District of Washington United States District Court, competed on UW’s national American Association of Justice Mock Trial Team, and served as President for the Federalist Society UW Student Chapter. Stephanie gained litigation experience while working at UW’s Innocence Project Clinic, the Washington State Attorney General’s Criminal Litigation Unit, and the Washington Appellate Project. She also became a Blackstone Fellow through the Alliance Defending Freedom Blackstone Fellowship. Additionally, Stephanie is a published author in the Ephemeris Journal of Philosophy, the American Bar Association’s Criminal Justice Section blog, and the University of Washington’s Law, Technology & Arts Blog. Prior to law school, Stephanie worked as a paralegal at large firms in downtown Seattle and volunteered as a local and national leader for anti-human trafficking campaigns. Through her experiences working in Washington’s public, private and non-profit legal sectors, Stephanie is uniquely qualified for fighting for freedom in the Pacific Northwest. When not litigating, Stephanie loves connecting with her hometown roots. She grew up in Woodinville, Washington and enjoys cheering for the Seahawks, Sounders and Dawgs, volunteering with youth soccer teams, catching concerts at the Gorge, and grabbing friends to hike one of the many numerous and scenic hiking trails scattered throughout the state. Stephanie obtained her Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations from Wheaton College, where she first became passionate about fighting for freedom in the context of international human rights. The time also further deepened her love for the mountainous northwest region, where she now resides.