The Lincolnshire Village Board on Monday voted to approve an agreement with a conservative thinktank that would give the village free legal counsel if it is sued over a new union regulation that has angered some labor leaders.
Last month, at a meeting that attracted hundreds of union supporters, the Village Board approved an ordinance that makes Lincolnshire the state’s first right-to-work zone. The law gives some employees at private companies with unionized work forces the choice to work for that company but not pay union dues, if they wish.
The Chicago-based Liberty Justice Center will defend the village’s law if it’s challenged in the courts, according to the agreement approved Monday.
About half of American states have these right-to-work laws, but some labor law experts have previously told the Pioneer Press that federal law prohibits municipalities from creating such laws within their own borders. The Lincolnshire ordinance does not affect public unions, including those that represent teachers, firefighters and police officers, and it will only begin affecting private employers once current collective bargaining agreements expire, officials said.
The country’s largest federation of unions, the AFL-CIO, said in a statement last month it was considering legal action against Lincolnshire over the ordinance. A spokesman for the union did not return a call Tuesday seeking comment.
Under the agreement, should the Liberty Justice Center ever amend or withdraw its pro bono offer, it must notify Village Hall immediately, according to village attorney Adam Simon. The agreement also requires that any costs incurred by the Liberty Justice Center in its defense of Lincolnshire be approved by the village if reimbursement from the village is expected, Simon said.
But then, there would be Village Hall’s own costs, which taxpayers would pay. As the trustees discussed, village manager Brad Burke and his staff would inevitably spend time talking with the Liberty Justice Center, tracking down internal documents for them and dealing with the other trappings of a potential lawsuit.
“Soft costs,” said Trustee Mara Grujanac. “But this will be an extraordinary soft cost. What we keep hearing is that this is going to be at no expense to the village.”
“There’s an expense on everything we do,” Mayor Liz Brandt said.
Grujanac abstained from the final vote on the agreement with the Liberty Justice Center, while other trustees approved it. She noted, though, that if no one sues Lincolnshire to have their right-to-work zone abolished, all of these preparations become moot.
“If there are no legal proceedings, then the cost is zero,” Grujanac said.
The Village Board eventually agreed to a “letter of engagement” with its legal counsel, which officials said they hoped would help ensure that Lincolnshire ends up paying nothing, or at least relatively little, in the event of any lawsuits.
Simon said the letter of engagement gives the center a fiduciary responsibility. He said that should the think tank ever decide to withdraw or amend its pro bono offer, it would have to notify Village Hall immediately — not after a lawsuit appears.
“There is no way Lincolnshire would end up owing LJC money,” Liberty Justice Center spokesman Nathaniel Hamilton wrote in an email.
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