NOT FOR PUBLICATION FILED
JUL 29 2021
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
BETHANY MENDEZ; et al., No. 20-15394
Plaintiffs-Appellants, D.C. No. 4:19-cv-01290-YGR
v.
MEMORANDUM*
CALIFORNIA TEACHERS
ASSOCIATION; et al.,
Defendants-Appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of California
Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, District Judge, Presiding
Submitted July 19, 2021**
Before: SCHROEDER, SILVERMAN, and MURGUIA, Circuit Judges.
Bethany Mendez, Linda Leigh Dick, Audrey Stewart, Angela Williams,
Stephanie Christie, and Jennifer Gribben appeal from the district court’s judgment
dismissing their 42 U.S.C. § 1983 putative class action alleging First Amendment
claims arising out of union membership dues. We have jurisdiction under 28
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
**
The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
U.S.C. § 1291. We review de novo the district court’s dismissal under Federal
Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), and we may affirm on any ground supported by
the record. Daniels-Hall v. Nat’l Educ. Ass’n, 629 F.3d 992, 998 (9th Cir. 2010).
We affirm.
The parties now agree that this court’s intervening decision in Belgau v.
Inslee, 975 F.3d 940 (9th Cir. 2020), cert. denied, No. 20-1120, 2021 WL 2519114
(June 21, 2021), controls the outcome of this appeal.
The district court properly dismissed plaintiffs’ First Amendment claims
against Associated Chino Teachers, California Teachers Association, Fremont
Unified District Teachers Association, Hayward Education Association-CTA-
NEA, National Education Association, Valley Center-Pauma Teachers Association
because the deduction of union membership dues arose from the private
membership agreements between the union defendants and plaintiffs, and “private
dues agreements do not trigger state action and independent constitutional
scrutiny.” Belgau, 975 F.3d at 946-49 (discussing state action).
Dismissal of plaintiffs’ First Amendment claims against superintendents
Kim Wallace, Ron McCowan, Matt Wayne, Norm Engield, and Attorney General
Rob Bonta was proper because plaintiffs affirmatively consented to the voluntary
deduction of union membership dues, and the Supreme Court’s decision in Janus
v. American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees, Council 31, 138
2 20-15394
S. Ct. 2448 (2018), did not extend a First Amendment right to avoid paying union
dues that were agreed upon under validly entered membership agreements. See
Belgau, 975 F.3d at 950-52.
The district court did not abuse its discretion in denying leave to amend
because any amendment would have been futile. See Cervantes v. Countrywide
Home Loans, Inc., 656 F.3d 1034, 1041 (9th Cir. 2011) (setting forth standard of
review and explaining that dismissal without leave to amend is proper when
amendment would be futile).
We do not consider matters not specifically and distinctly raised and argued
in the opening brief. See Padgett v. Wright, 587 F.3d 983, 985 n.2 (9th Cir. 2009).
AFFIRMED.
3 20-15394