Right to Work is back in Wisconsin, for now.

On Tuesday, May 24, 2016, Wisconsin Court of Appeals Judge Lisa Stark granted the State’s request for a stay of a circuit court judge’s ruling, which overturned Wisconsin’s Right to Work law in April 2016.

As outlined in our previous client alert on this matter, Dane County Circuit Court Judge William Foust held that Wisconsin’s Right to Work law amounts to an unconstitutional taking because the law obligates unions to provide services to all bargaining unit employees, including those who choose not to join a union and pay union dues.

Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel filed a motion to stay the lower court’s ruling while the State’s appeal was pending, but Judge Foust denied the motion. When Attorney Schimel filed a similar motion with the Court of Appeals, he was successful in securing this stay. However, Tuesday’s stay is not a final decision.

To date, twenty-five states have passed Right to Work laws, all of which have ultimately survived constitutional challenges. Similar success is predicted for Wisconsin’s Right to Work law, which will likely be appealed all the way to the Wisconsin Supreme Court and upheld by its 5-2 conservative majority.

If you have any questions about how Wisconsin’s Right to Work legislation can benefit your workplace, please contact Joel Aziere at jaziere@buelowvetter.com or (262) 364-0250, or your Buelow Vetter attorney.