A Connecticut State Trooper won a settlement in his federal civil rights lawsuit against officials of the Connecticut State Police Union (CSPU) and Department of Emergency Services (DESPP), in which he charged them with illegally demoting him for his refusal to become a union member and to pay union dues to support CSPU’s political positions.
The trooper, Joseph Mercer, who was represented by the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, settled the lawsuit for $260,500.
“Situations like these demonstrate why the Foundation-won Janus v. AFSCME decision, which the U.S. Supreme Court decided while Mercer’s case was ongoing, is so important,” National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix said in a statement. “As was obvious in Mercer’s case, unelected public sector union bosses often wield their enormous clout over government to serve the union’s private interests over the public interest. That’s why it’s vital that public employees can exercise their First Amendment Janus right to cut off all financial support of union bosses who are contorting government in this way.”
According to the foundation, in 2015, Mercer was appointed to the position of Operations Sergeant of the Emergency Services training and field operation.
Despite Mercer’s 17 years of experience, CSPU President Andrew Matthews filed a grievance over Mercer’s appointment to the high-level position, claiming the department had not undergone a “selection process” to fill the role.
The foundation observed, however, that “none of Sergeant Mercer’s union-member predecessors had undergone any particular kind of selection process before they got the job.”
Matthews then filed another grievance, claiming Mercer had mishandled a situation involving an armed suspect, though state police officials never expressed concern over his management of the incident.
The foundation explained that, later in 2015, after the then-DESPP Commissioner Dora Schriro held a private meeting with Matthews, Mercer was transferred out of the Operations Sergeant position to an administrative role that lacked opportunities for overtime work and time spent in the field.
In 2016, Mercer filed his lawsuit, alleging CSPU, Matthews, its president, and Schriro, blocked him from continuing in his Operations Sergeant position following his decision not to join CSPU and not to pay union dues to support CSPU’s political views.
In 2018, the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut denied motions by CSPU and state officials to dismiss the lawsuit. In 2022, the district court ordered current DESPP Commissioner James Rovella to provide additional discovery, the foundation reported.
“Now, CSPU and DEPP officials have backed down and settled the case,” the foundation stated.
In June 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Janus that non-union government employees cannot be compelled to pay union fees as a condition of working in public service.
“We at the Foundation are proud to have defended Sergeant Mercer’s rights and secured him a settlement that vindicates his free association,” Mix commented. “However, it’s disgraceful that CSPU union officials targeted Mercer, a dedicated public safety officer, with such a vicious retribution scheme in the first place. Public servants should not have to endure multi-year lawsuits just so they can refrain from supporting union politics they oppose.”
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Susan Berry, PhD, is national education editor at The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected]
Photo “Connecticut State Police Union” by Connecticut State Police Union.
