The University of Rhode Island has received a complaint over job applications for an administrative position, claiming that they prefer hiring union members over non-union members.
The Goldwater Institute, an organization who states their mission is to fight for liberty and freedom for all Americans, supported the complaint, according to an article from Nov. 20. Kevin McCaffery, an attorney from Goldwater Institute, filed a lawsuit against the university to vindicate the plaintiff Nicole Solas’ First Amendment rights.
The lawsuit states the university only gives benefits to National Education Association Rhode Island union members who apply for jobs, according to Scott Day Freeman, a senior attorney at the Goldwater Institute.
As Solas is a non-union member, she would not receive the same benefits and is unlikely to be hired, according to Freeman. Forcing the choice of joining or funding the union to get the job is a violation of the First Amendment, according to Freeman. This prompted her to file a complaint.
This is a crucial case because the government shouldn’t get involved with the job application process, according to Freeman.
“Forcing people to associate themselves with or fund groups that engage in political action are violating fundamental rights under the First Amendment,” Freeman said. “It’s not only important to Solas, but to everyone who doesn’t want to fund speech.”
Solas claimed URI’s hiring preferences to be unconstitutional, according to an email statement to The Good Five Cent Cigar staff. The email statement read that preferences prohibited her from having a fair shot at applying for a job at a public education institution where taxpayers pay $115 million. The Rhode Island public’s tax dollars aren’t meant to fund a jobs program for union associates, according to Solas’ email statement.
“URI should seek budget appropriations for its operational expenses exclusively from the unions if it is going to leverage a union hiring preference against the majority of Rhode Island tax base funding it,” Solas said in the email statement.
After the complaint was filed, the next step for the case is for the defendants, URI and President Marc Parlange, to process the complaint, according to Freeman. The defendants could either file an answer to the complaint or a motion to dismiss it. If the defendants agree to go through with the case, the lawyer representing the university would reach out to Goldwater to discuss it.
“The University is aware of the filing,” Dawn Bergantino, the assistant director of university communications said in an email statement to the Cigar. “URI follows a rigorous hiring process designed to meet or exceed all requirements under state and federal employment law and cannot provide further comment on pending litigation at this time.”
If Solas were to win the case, an order would be issued to prohibit the university from providing hiring preference and declare injunctive relief, according to Freeman. The university would also agree that they violated the First and 14th Amendments and end their union membership with the government.
“I hope URI is ordered to stop its unconstitutional practice of hiring union cronies before – and potentially to the exclusion of – everyday workers in Rhode Island who do not pledge fealty to the radical politics of Rhode Island’s progressive labor and teacher unions,” Solas said in the statement. “Talent, qualifications and merit should never be subjugated to any political group membership in the hiring of public employees serving Rhode Island.”
If URI were to win the case, it would mean challenging Solas and stating they don’t have a hiring preference, according to Freeman. He said that even if everything the complaint said was true, URI could appeal to dismiss the lawsuit, deeming it unnecessary.
“We will never know how much talented public service has been sacrificed on the alter of union cronyism after decades of URI shafting everyday Rhode Island candidates seeking employment,” Solas said in the email statement. “But we can at least get this flagship Rhode Island institution to comply with Constitutional hiring practices now so that every Rhode Islander has a fair chance at working for and benefiting from the state institutions they fund.”
