In a 5-4 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to extend its previous holdings regarding “fair-share” fees to state-paid caretakers who provide in-home care to disabled individuals (often to family members). Fair share fees represent the union’s per-capita cost of collective bargaining and contract administration that nonmembers must pay in lieu of union dues. According to the court in Harris v. Quinn, in this setting, mandatory fair-share fees are unconstitutional.
Theresa Riffey, Susan Watts and Stephanie Yencer-Price are home care providers, or “personal assistants,” to disabled participants in the Home Services Program, a Medicaid-waiver program operated by the state of Illinois. The state subsidizes the participant’s cost of home care. Riffey, Watts and Yencer-Price are paid for these services by the state pursuant to the Home Services Program.
