American Public Servants Association : Website Terms of Use

Last Updated: December 19, 2022

Welcome to www.americanpublicservants.org, an online platform providing information regarding public-sector workers’ rights, and providing membership to any public-sector employee (the “Website“) operated by the American Public Servants Association, a Delaware not-for-profit corporations with an address at PO Box 391, Albany, NY 12201 (“APSA”, “we”, “our”, or “us”). The Website enables users of the Website (“Users”) to learn more about us and Users who register with us (“Subscribers” and “Members”) to receive or otherwise interact with certain of our services offered through the Website or otherwise (collectively, the “Services”). These Terms of Use for the Website (this “Agreement”) sets forth the terms and conditions which govern your use of the Website. The terms “you”, “your” and “yours” when used herein refer to either Users or Subscribers or Members, or to both Users and Subscribers and Members collectively, as applicable, unless the context of this Agreement indicates otherwise. For clarity, all references to the “Website” in this Agreement will include the Services, and any additional mention of the Services in combination with the Website shall be made out of the abundance of clarity for the particular context given and without limiting any other reference to the Website.

THIS AGREEMENT

Acceptance via the Website. Please read this Agreement carefully before otherwise accessing the Website. In order to use the Website, you must first agree to be bound by the provisions of this Agreement. For Users who are anonymous browsers or who have not yet registered with us, by accessing the Website you indicate that you have read, understood and agree to be bound by the provisions set forth in this Agreement. And for Subscribers or Members who register with us, you indicate your agreement to the provisions of this Agreement by means of such registration. You may join our efforts as a “Subscriber” or “Member” and participate in our programs. If you do not agree to be bound by this Agreement, you are not authorized to use the Website. Furthermore, you are not authorized to use the Website if you are barred from using the Website either (a) under the laws of the jurisdiction in which you reside or from which you are attempting to access the Website, or (b) due to prior violations of this Agreement.

Minors. If you are a minor in your state of residence, then you are not authorized to use the Website and thus you agree to use the Website if and only if (a) you have secured the authorization of your parent or legal guardian to use the Website and your parent or legal guardian has agreed to this Agreement on your behalf, (b) your parent or legal guardian has not revoked such agreement, and (c) you have agreed to the provisions of this Agreement and you have not revoked such agreement.

Modification. We reserve the right to modify this Agreement at any time. You shall periodically review this Agreement to be aware of such modifications. You further agree that your continued use of the Website after any such modifications have been made shall be deemed to be your conclusive acceptance of any modified version of this Agreement. We will indicate that changes to this Agreement have been made by updating the date indicated after “Last Updated” at the beginning of this Agreement. We will be happy to provide you with prior versions of this Agreement upon your written request to us. If you do not agree to abide by the initial version and each modified version of this Agreement, then you are not authorized to use the Website. A current version of this Agreement is accessible via the footer of the Website’s homepage.

Your Personal Information. If you wish to become a Subscriber or Member, you will be asked by APSA or a third party working on our behalf to supply certain of your personal information (“PI”) including (if you choose to join as a Member) your payment information. You shall provide us or such third party (as applicable) with accurate, complete and current PI, and you shall update all PI so provided if and as it changes. You shall be responsible for any activity conducted through the Website which is identified with such information.

SPECIFIC DISCLAIMERS

No warranties of content. The text, messages, comments, files, icons, images, tags, notes, links, photographs, audio, video and other information appearing on the website or otherwise provided to you by us (collectively, “content“) is intended for informational and educational purposes only and should not be construed as professional advice. Neither APSA nor any of our affiliated entities, including the American Public Servants Charitable Foundation (APSCF), nor any of their respective members, managers, directors, officers, shareholders, licensors, agents, employees, consultants, representatives or service providers (collectively, the “APSA Parties“) is, or is acting in the capacity of, an expert or licensed professional. 

DONATIONS

We very much appreciate your support of APSA’s mission and APSCF’s mission! APSA and APSCF are able to continue its critical work due to the generosity of supporters like you. You may make donations to APSCF through the Website. Donations made through the Website are final and cannot be returned.  We will provide a tax receipt using the information submitted to us by you and the time the donation was made.  Please keep in mind that you may be contacted by us and/or our auditors for compliance purposes and/or from our third party payment processor for purposes related to your donation.  In such an event, the information you share with third parties is subject to their terms and conditions.
 

MEMBERSHIP

Membership is open to any current public-sector employee in the United States. Membership can be paid on a monthly or annual term, however APSA is not able to offer refunds. Payment preferences and receipts for payment can be found by logging in your member account. Members have access to members-only information and services, which is available by logging in to your member account.

YOUR CONTENT, USAGE RESTRICTIONS.

Website Purpose. The Website is intended to act as an informational resource for public-sector employees who are interested in alternatives to traditional union membership.

Usage Restrictions. You shall not use the Website in any manner which:

(a) enables you (or enables any other person) to (i) copy, modify, create a derivative work of, the Website, or (ii) copy, modify, create a derivative work of, reverse engineer, translate, adapt or decompile (or attempt to translate, adapt or decompile) or otherwise attempt to extract any software underlying the Website (or any portion thereof) or the source code of the software underlying the Website (or any portion thereof);
(b)  interferes with operations or services provided by the Website or otherwise disrupts the Website in any way;
(c) interrupts, destroys or limit the functionality of, any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment (including without limitation by means of software viruses, Trojan horses or any other computer code, files or programs);
(d) infringes any copyright, trademark, trade secret, patent or other right of any party (including the promoting of an illegal or unauthorized copy of another person’s copyrighted work), or defames or invades the publicity rights or the privacy of any person, living or deceased (or impersonates any such person);
(e) is false, misleading, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortious, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable, as determined by us in our sole discretion;
(f) creates a false identity or otherwise attempts to mislead any person as to the identity or origin of any communication;
(g) exports, re-exports, or permits downloading of any message or content in violation of any export or import law, regulation, or restriction of the United States and its agencies and authorities, or without all required approvals, licenses, or exemptions;
(h) causes us to lose (in whole or part) the services of our internet service providers or other suppliers;
(i) consists of any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, “junk mail,” “spam,” “chain letters,” “pyramid schemes,” or any other form of solicitation, or otherwise transmits, posts or sends unsolicited commercial messages, removes or modifies any postings, unauthorized commercial advertisements, affiliate links, and other forms of solicitation;
(j) links to materials or other content, directly or indirectly, to which you do not have a right to link or which we determine in our sole discretion is not appropriate to be linked to from the Website; or
(k) violates, or encourages others to violate this Agreement (or engages in any other activity deemed by us to be in conflict with this Agreement), or violates or encourages others to violate any applicable local, state, national, or international law.

Reporting Violations.  You shall immediately notify us in writing of any Content that you view through the Website which you deem to be offensive, inappropriate or otherwise a violation of this Agreement.

Disabling or Revocation of Use. We have the right to cancel or suspend your use of the Website, for any reason, as determined in our sole discretion, including without limitation if we believe you have violated this Agreement.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

The Website, including without limitation all Content provided by APSA or any of our third party licensors, contributors or collaborators, is protected by copyright, trademark and other laws of the United States and/or other jurisdictions. Other than for Your Content and third party Trademarks (as hereinafter defined) appearing on the Website, you acknowledge and agree that as between you and us, all right, title and interest (including without limitation all copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret and other intellectual property rights) in and to Website (including without limitation all other Content appearing therein other than Your Content) is owned by us, and that you have no rights in and to the Website other than as expressly set forth in this Agreement. Except as described in Section 4 above, no Content or any software underlying the Website may be sold, copied, reproduced, republished, uploaded, displayed, posted, transmitted, distributed, modified, publicly performed, used in any derivative works based thereon or otherwise used for any public or commercial purpose without our prior written consent.

LINKS; THIRD-PARTY RESOURCES.

The Website may also provide third party resources (such as news articles or surveys) as well as links to third party resources which may be of possible interest to you (“Third Party Resources”). Because we do not endorse or otherwise have control over any Third Party Resources, we are not responsible or liable, directly or indirectly, for (a) the availability of such Third Party Resources, (b) any content, data, text, software, music, sound, photographs, video, messages, tags, links, advertising, services, products, or other materials on or available from any such Third Party Resources, (c) your participation, correspondence or dealings with any third party found on or through the Website, and any other terms, conditions, representations or warranties associated with such dealings, which are solely between you and any such third party, or (d) any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with your interaction with any such third party or any other third party whom you form a connection with through or because of the Website. Your use of any Third Party Resources linked to from the Website are subject to the policies and procedures of the owner of such resource, and your use of all such resources is subject to such policies and procedures and not to the provisions of this Agreement.

REPRESENTATIONS, WARRANTIES AND COVENANTS

You represent and warrant that (a) you have all rights, power and the full legal authority to enter into this Agreement (and if you are entering into this Agreement on behalf of any entity that you are fully authorized by such entity to so enter into this Agreement on its behalf), (b) you have carefully read this Agreement and shall comply with all of your obligations under this Agreement and any other terms or conditions posted on the Website, and (c) this Agreement is enforceable against you in accordance with its terms and conditions.

DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES

Your use of the website is strictly “as is”, “as available”, and at your sole risk. None of the APSA Parties has or shall have any liability, obligation or responsibility to you or any other person for any loss, damage, or adverse consequence alleged to have happened or which has happened, directly or indirectly, through your use of the website (including without limitation your use of any content) or otherwise. APSA further does not make any guaranty of the accuracy, correctness, usefulness, timeliness or completeness of, and is not liable for losses or damages alleged to arise from or arising from or related to, any use of the website. Specifically, and to the extent permitted by applicable law, each of the APSA Parties disclaims any implied warranties of title, non-infringement, merchantability, and fitness for any particular purpose regarding the website including without limitation any content contained on the website (whether your content, third party content or contest provided by us). APSA does not warrant that the website will be uninterrupted or error free or free from viruses or other harmful components. Further, under no circumstances shall APSA be liable in any way for any loss or damage alleged to arise or arising out of or related to your use of the website, or your interaction with any third party linked to from the website, or otherwise.

LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

In no event shall APSA or any of the other APSA Parties be liable for lost profits or for any special, incidental, indirect, consequential or punitive damages arising out of or related to, directly or indirectly, your use of the website (including without limitation your loss of any data, income, or profit, or loss or damage to property arising out of or related to the use of, or the inability to use, the website), whether or not APSA or any of the other APSA Parties has been advised of the possibility of such damages.

INDEMNIFICATION

You shall indemnify, defend and hold harmless APSA and each of the other APSA Parties from any and all claims, demands, actions, lawsuits (each, a “Claim” and collectively, “Claims“) and all resulting costs, liabilities, losses, expenses, and damages, actual and consequential, direct and indirect, of every kind and nature, including without limitation reasonable attorneys’ fees and disbursements (collectively, “Losses“) made by any third party arising out of or related to (a) the breach by you of any of your representations, warranties, covenants or obligations under this Agreement, (b) your negligence or misconduct, or (c) your violation of any law or regulation. You shall provide APSA and all other applicable APSA Parties with prompt written notice of any Claim or potential Claim of which you become aware. Upon the assertion or commencement of any Claim against one or more of the APSA Parties by any third party that may give rise to liability of any such APSA Party hereunder, you shall assume the control of the defense of such Claim at your sole expense with counsel reasonably acceptable to each such applicable APSA Party; provided, however, that each such APSA Party may take part in and/or fully assume such defense, in its sole discretion and at its own expense after you assume the control thereof. You shall not enter into any settlement of any Claim which any of the APSA Parties believes is adverse to its interests, without receiving the prior written consent of each of the APSA Parties affected by such Claim. In no event shall any of the APSA Parties be obligated to agree to or participate in any settlement which any such party reasonably believes would have an adverse effect on such party’s business interests.

PRIVACY

APSA views the protection of your privacy as an important responsibility. The terms regulating the handling, use, and storage of your PI and other information by us in connection with the Website are described in our Privacy Policy, which can be found in the footer of the APSA website. However, the handling, use and storage of your PI by any third party that we do not control is subject to the privacy policy (if any) of such third party and not the Privacy Policy; for instance, when you click on a link to a website controlled by a third party, your PI will be subject to the privacy policy of such third party and not this Privacy Policy.

NOTICES

All notices hereunder shall be given by certified mail, postage prepaid and return receipt requested, to: APSA, PO Box 391, Albany, NY 12201, and by electronic mail at info@americanpublicservants. Notice shall be deemed given three (3) days after the date of such mailing and upon the sending of such electronic mail if no automatic error message is received.
 

GOVERNING LAW; ARBITRATION; NO CLASS CLAIMS; TIMELY FILING OF CLAIMS

This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York, excluding New York’s choice-of-law principles. Any dispute arising out of or relating to this Agreement (including without limitation regarding any breach hereunder) or otherwise your use of the Website shall be finally resolved by binding arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) under its Commercial Arbitration Rules (the “CAB”) but if the AAA does not agree to adjudicate such dispute under the CAB then by a private professional arbitrator and associated rules reasonably agreed upon by you and APSA in writing.  Judgment upon the award rendered by the arbitrator may be entered in any court having jurisdiction. The arbitration will be conducted in New York, NY by an arbitrator with expertise in non-profit organizations and labor issues, who shall be named in accordance with such rules. The award of the arbitrator shall be final and binding on you and us, without a right of appeal, and shall be accompanied by a statement of the reasons upon which the award is based, and such statement as well as all information concerning such arbitration proceedings including without limitation all evidence and materials submitted by you and/or us shall be deemed to be confidential information and shall not be made public by either you or us.  If the party who initiates the arbitration action is unsuccessful to all claims raised, then such party shall pay the other party’s costs and expenses associated with such arbitration, including but not limited to reasonable attorneys’ fees. No arbitration or claim under this agreement shall be joined to any other arbitration or claim, and no class arbitration proceedings shall be permitted.  Notwithstanding the foregoing, you and we may each apply to any court of competent jurisdiction for injunctive relief or enforcement of this arbitration provision, without breach of this arbitration provision, and you and us hereby submits to the exclusive jurisdiction of such courts for such purposes. You agree that regardless of any statute or law to the contrary, any claim that you may have against APSA or any of the other APSA Parties which arises out of or is related to this agreement or otherwise related your use of the website, must be filed by you pursuant to this section 14 within one (1) year after such claim or cause of action arose or is claimed to have arisen.

ASSIGNMENT

You shall not resell or assign your rights, duties or obligations under this Agreement and that any attempted assignment or delegation will be void ad initio and of no force or effect whatsoever. This Agreement may be automatically assigned by APSA, in our sole discretion, to a third party, and such an assignment will inure to the benefit of our successors, assigns and/or licensees.

NO WAIVER

Our failure to act with respect to a breach by you or others does not waive our right to act with respect to a subsequent or similar breach or breaches. If APSA does not exercise or enforce any legal right or remedy which is contained in this Agreement (or which APSA has the benefit of under any applicable law or regulation), such action or inaction shall not be taken to be a formal waiver of APSA’s rights, and all such rights or remedies shall still be available to APSA.
 

VALIDITY

If any provision of this Agreement is held to be invalid by a court or arbitrator having competent jurisdiction, the invalidity of such provision shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions of this Agreement, which shall remain in full force and effect. Section headings are for reference purposes only and in no way define, limit, construe or describe the scope or extent of such section. This Agreement and any ancillary terms and conditions referenced herein sets forth the entire understanding and agreement between you and us with respect to the subject matter hereof. The provisions of this Agreement shall survive termination or expiration to the extent necessary to carry out the obligations of you and APSA hereunder.
 

CONTACT US

If you have any questions or concerns regarding the Website, please contact us by electronic mail at info@americanpublicservants.org.