Paras' right-to-work ruling hinges on the "particular services clause" of the Indiana Constitution that declares, "No person's particular services shall be demanded, without just compensation."

The United Steelworkers union, which represents more than 5,000 steel mill employees in Northwest Indiana, argued the right-to-work law's requirement that the union provide bargaining and grievance services to nonmembers for free runs afoul of that constitutional provision.

Paras agreed.

In his strongly worded July decision, the judge said by denying Steelworkers the ability to collect fair-share fees from nonunion members, it is clear the right-to-work law deprives the union of compensation for services it is required by federal law to provide to all employees in a bargaining unit.

"But for the RTW (right-to-work) statute, plaintiffs would still be able to be compensated for such services," Paras said.

"Moreover, the state of Indiana has taken a central role in the denial of just compensation to plaintiffs, as any violation of the RTW statute by them would bring about their criminal prosecution by the state of Indiana or administrative proceedings against them by the Indiana Department of Labor."