Major Court Victory Protects Captive Audience Law

CT AFL-CIO

14 Feb, 2026

Ed Hawthorne, President of the Connecticut AFL-CIO, made the following statement in response to U.S. District Judge Kari A. Dooley granting Connecticut's motion for summary judgment and dismissing CBIA and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s challenge to the state's captive audience law:

This federal court decision is a major victory for working people across Connecticut.
This law ensures that workers can make their own decisions about forming a union without fear of employer intimidation and harassment. Far too often, when workers attempt to form a union, management used to be able to force workers to attend closed-door captive audience meetings where they would frequently threaten business closures, wage cuts, layoffs, and more.
No employer should be able to force a worker to attend a meeting to coerce their opinions on religion, politics, or union organizing. And no worker should fear retaliation simply for exercising their right to join a union.
The labor movement is deeply grateful to Attorney General William Tong for standing up to powerful business interests and defending workers from being forced into captive audience meetings.
As worker protections are eroded at the federal level, it's critical to have a champion for working people like Attorney General Tong.

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