Robbie Ohlendorf v. United Food & Commerical Workers Int'l Union, Local 876

**Union Members Lose Challenge Over Membership Withdrawal Rules** Robbie Ohlendorf and other union members sued their local union (United Food & Commercial Workers Local 876) after the union refused to let them quit their membership. The workers claimed the union was improperly enforcing rules about how and when members could leave the union, arguing this violated federal labor law and the union's duty to fairly represent all members. The court sided with the union and dismissed the workers' lawsuit. The judges ruled that the specific federal law the workers cited doesn't allow individual union members to file private lawsuits. Additionally, the court found that the union didn't violate its legal duty to fairly represent members by following the membership withdrawal rules written in their contract. **What this means for workers:** If you're a union member who wants to leave your union, you'll need to follow whatever withdrawal procedures are spelled out in your union's contract or bylaws. Courts generally won't intervene in these disputes unless the union acts in a clearly unfair or discriminatory way. This ruling reinforces that unions have broad authority to set and enforce their own membership rules, even when individual members disagree with those policies.