A New York federal court case between three attorney members of the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys (ALAA) and their union. The parties recently reached a settlement in the ongoing legal dispute, which arose after the union adopted a resolution in December 2023 that criticized Israel and supported a boycott. The three attorneys opposed the resolution as antisemitic and sought to block the resolution in state court. After doing so, the attorneys alleged that the union retaliated by attempting to expel them from the union, in violation of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA), a federal law that regulates labor unions’ internal affairs and the unions’ relationship with employers.
The plaintiffs’ broader discrimination claims under Title VII and New York human rights laws were dismissed earlier in the case, with the court finding that the union’s resolution did not constitute direct discrimination. However, their LMRDA claims, asserting that the union sought to punish them for exercising protected rights, were allowed to proceed until the parties reached settlement.
Under the settlement agreement, the ALAA will pay $315,000 to the plaintiffs’ counsel and implement several non-monetary reforms, including mandatory executive board training on union members’ rights under the LMRDA and a requirement that future internal disciplinary charges be reviewed by union counsel through 2027. The union will also issue a statement reaffirming its commitment to open debate and acknowledging that some prior communications during the 2023 resolution debate were inappropriate.
The case, Kopmar et al. v. Association of Legal Aid Attorneys, Local 2325, UAW (S.D.N.Y., No. 1:24-cv-05158-JPO), was formally dismissed following execution of the settlement.