Blaska v. Madison Metropolitan School District | Sannes v. Madison Metropolitan School District

Type of Case: Act 10; Collective Bargaining

Court: Dane County Circuit Court

Case Number: 14-CV-2578; 15-CV-974

Filed On: September 10, 2014; April 14, 2015

Current Status: Blaska dismissed on procedural grounds, on appeal; summary judgment granted to MMSD and MTI

The Madison Metropolitan School District is another local government entity that bargained with its employees’ unions in violation of Act 10. That negotiation was arguably permissible because its teachers’ union obtained a ruling from Dane County Judge Juan Colas that Act 10 was unconstitutional, and the contract could be enforced while that case remained pending.  But once the Wisconsin Supreme Court overruled Colas and settled once and for all that Act 10 is perfectly constitutional, those contracts became null and void. Yet MMSD is continuing to enforce the contract.

On behalf of Dave Blaska and Norman Sannes, we sued the school district and its union seeking to halt enforcement of the contract.  In both cases, the defendants argued that the plaintiffs lacked standing, but taxpayers in Wisconsin have the right to sue to stop the unlawful expenditure of tax money.  Briefing has been completed in Sannes, and oral arguments were made in December, 2015. The judge granted summary judgment to MMSD and MTI. In Blaska, the judge dismissed the case on procedural grounds, and we have appealed.

CASE DOCUMENTS (Blaska)

CASE DOCUMENTS (SANNES)