Dane County Judge Foust Denies Stay in Right-to-Work Decision

MacIver News Service | April 26, 2016

[Madison, Wis…] The Dane County judge who declared Wisconsin’s right-to-work law unconstitutional earlier in April denied a stay in that decision on Monday.

While the state argued all the benchmarks for granting the stay had been met, the attorney representing the unions called the state’s reasoning “breathtaking” and said their rationale could also be used to uphold Jim Crow laws.

After both sides completed their arguments, Judge William Foust immediately moved into his decision. He sided with the unions, who argued against the stay. Foust focused his final comments on the harm unions will incur if a stay is granted, which he said is greater than the harm to be sustained by union members who may now be required to resume mandatory dues payments.

An ultimate decision on the constitutionality of Wisconsin’s right-to-work law will be made by an appeals court at a later time, but in the meantime, Foust’s decision freezing the law will stand.

“We are disappointed our motion for stay in the right-to-work case was denied in Dane County Circuit Court and plan to seek stay in the Court of Appeals, where we feel confident this law will be upheld,” Attorney General Brad Schimel said in a statement.

Both Schimel and Gov. Walker have expressed confidence that the law will ultimately be upheld, a consideration Foust discussed in his ruling. Appeals courts in other states have repeatedly upheld similar right-to-work laws.