Wagner

Defendant Professional Engineers in California Government (“PECG”) is the exclusive bargaining agent for a unit of California state employees and has entered into a collective-bargaining agreement with the state. The agreement contains a union ■ security clause. Plaintiffs are engineers who are members of the bargaining unit but nonmembers of PECG. As such, they are obligated to pay “fair-share” fees.

Plaintiffs allege (1) that PECG failed to provide proper notice to fee payers as required by Chicago Teachers Union, Local No. 1 v. Hudson, 475 U.S. 292 , 106 S.Ct. 1066 , 89 L.Ed.2d 232 (1986), and (2) that PECG improperly categorized certain activities as representational. With respect to the first claim, PECG concedes that the 1999 notice was defective. We hold that the proper remedy for a defective notice is issuance of a proper notice with a renewed opportunity for objection. We also hold that Plaintiffs are judicially estopped from pursuing their second claim.

OVERVIEW

A union that represents employees in a collective-bargaining unit has a legal obligation to represent equally all employees in the bargaining unit, whether or not they are members of the union. In Lucas v.…

concurring in part and dissenting in part:

I respectfully dissent with regard to the majority’s conclusions (1) that the district court erred in reaching the changeability issue (section I.B. of the Discussion in the majority opinion), and (2) that the district court did not err in limiting the class definition and relief to the seven-month period spanning March through October, 1999 (section II.C.). I concur in the remainder of the majority opinion.

I. CHARGEABILITY

The district court granted summary judgment for Plaintiffs on their claim that Categories 24 (Legislative Activity Related to Collective Bargaining), 29 (Initiatives), and 41 (Legislative Political Action) were nonchargeable, ruling that PECG had “fail[ed] to show how any of the challenged expenditures are germane to collective bargaining activity.” The majority reverses this ruling based not on the merits, but on the doctrine of judicial estoppel. It does so even though it is beyond dispute that at least part of Plaintiffs’ claim is valid and meritorious, as PECG now concedes that Category 41 was non-chargeable. See ante at 1043-1044 n. 3. To reverse the district court and require the dismissal of an indisputably…