Americans for Fair Treatment (AFFT) is a nonprofit membership organization that provides assistance for public-sector workers who wish to resign from a union, in support of their First Amendment rights. AFFT includes the outreach projects Free to Teach, a former project of the Commonwealth Foundation, and Free to Serve, which support educators and government employees, respectively. ¹

Americans for Fair Treatment is an associate member of the State Policy Network, a coalition of free-market state-level policy organizations. ²

Activity

Americans for Fair Treatment is a membership organization that provides assistance for public-sector workers who wish to resign from a union, in support of their First Amendment rights. AFFT includes the outreach projects Free to Teach, a former project of the Commonwealth Foundation, and Free to Serve, which support educators and government employees, respectively. ³

Americans for Fair Treatment claims that unions work to limit employees’ rights and seek allies in politicians in order to retain members. AFFT also claims that unions employ tactics like limited opt-out windows, ignoring correspondence, delaying employees from opting out, and misinforming employees about loss of benefits. In order to assist employees, AFFT works with public interest law firms, like the Fairness Center and the Government Justice Center, and claims that letters and calls from attorneys will usually cause unions to relent. ⁴

Americans for Fair Treatment’s website provides public sector employees with step-by-step instructions on how to resign from their union, including a form letter that cites First Amendment rights granted by the Supreme Court’s 2018 Janus v AFSCME decision. ⁵

Funding

Americans for Fair Treatment is funded by donations from individuals, foundations, and corporations. While AFFT does not disclose its donors, tax filings show donations from Donors Trust, which contributed between 2016 and 2019, ⁶ the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, which contributed between 2018 and 2019,⁷ and the Searle Freedom Trust, which contributed in 2018. ⁸

People

David Osborne is CEO of Americans for Fair Treatment. Osborne formerly served as president and general counsel of the Fairness Center, as a member of the Federal Service Impasses Panel, and as president of the Harrisburg chapter of the Federalist Society. ⁹

Elisabeth Kines is the national executive director of AFFT. Kines formerly served as vice president of the Palmetto Promise Institute and the executive vice president of the Yankee Institute. ¹⁰

Conner Drigotas is the director of strategic partnerships at AFFT. Drigotas formerly worked as the director of communications and development at the Fairness Center, was the founder of the Better Money PAC, and formerly served on the Pennsylvania board of the Our America Initiative. ¹¹

Brigette Herbst is New York state director of AFFT and a field director at New Choice NY. ¹²

Suzanne Bates is senior writer and researcher with AFFT. Bates is a former policy director for the Yankee Institute. ¹³

Board of Directors

Charles Mitchell serves as the secretary-treasurer of the board and the president and CEO of the Commonwealth Foundation. Mitchell is a former program director for the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, a former associate with the Charles Koch Institute, and a former program officer for the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education. ¹⁴

Michael Reitz serves as the chair of the board, the executive vice president of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, on the board of the Michigan Coalition for Open Government, and as a member of the leadership committee at the American Enterprise Institute. Reitz formerly served as general counsel at the Freedom Foundation, on the board of the Washington Coalition for Open Government, and as a member of the executive committee at the Federalist Society. ¹⁵

Timothy Hoefer is the executive director of the Empire Center for Public Policy. ¹⁶

George Coates serves as chair of the board of the Commonwealth Foundation. ¹⁷

1. “About Us.” Americans for Fair Treatment. Accessed April 19, 2021. https://www.americansforfairtreatment.org/about-us/.
2. “The Network.” State Policy Network, 2021. Accessed April 17, 2021. https://spn.org/directory/.
3. “About Us.” Americans for Fair Treatment. Accessed April 19, 2021. https://www.americansforfairtreatment.org/about-us/.
4. “Politicians and unions throw up roadblocks – here’s how they can be overcome.” Americans for Fair Treatment, April 6, 2021. Accessed April 19, 2021. https://www.americansforfairtreatment.org/politicians-and-unions-throw-up-roadblocks-heres-how-they-can-be-overcome/.
5. “3 Steps To Resign From Your Public Sector Union.” Americans for Fair Treatment. Accessed April 19, 2021. https://www.americansforfairtreatment.org/faq/resigning-union-membership/.
6. Donors Trust, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2016-2019. Schedule I, Part II.
7. Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, Return of Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), 2018-2019, Part XV, Line 3a.
8. Searle Freedom Trust, Return of Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), 2018, Part XV, Line 3a.
9. “David R. Osborne.” LinkedIn 2021. Accessed April 19, 2021. https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-r-osborne-59505668/.
10. “Elizabeth Kines.” Americans for Fair Treatment. Accessed April 17, 2021. https://www.americansforfairtreatment.org/about-us/elisabeth-kines/.
11. “Connor Drigotas.” LinkedIn, 2021. Accessed April 19, 2021. https://www.linkedin.com/in/cddrigotas/.
12. “Brigette Herbst.” LinkedIn, 2021. Accessed April 19, 2021. https://www.linkedin.com/in/brigette-herbst-ab464839/.
13. “Suzanne Bates.” Americans for Fair Treatment. Accessed April 17, 2021. https://www.americansforfairtreatment.org/about-us/suzanne-bates/.
14. “Charles Mitchell.” LinkedIn, 2021. Accessed April 19, 2021. https://www.linkedin.com/in/cmitch05/.
15. “Michael J. Reitz.” LinkedIn, 2021. Accessed April 19, 2021. https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-j-reitz-9046a358/.
16. “Tim Hoefer.” LinkedIn, 2021. Accessed April 19, 2021. https://www.linkedin.com/in/tphoefer/.
17. “George Coates Jr.” LinkedIn, 2021. Accessed April 19, 2021. https://www.linkedin.com/in/george-coates-jr-1934a727/.