NSBA Legal Clips
Archived entries for employees

Indiana court preliminarily enjoins state department of education from requiring school districts to use teacher contract form

A Marion County Superior Court has granted a preliminary injunction barring the Indiana Department of Education (IDE) from requiring local school districts to use its new form when executing employment contracts with teachers. The court concluded that the plaintiff, the Indiana State Teachers Association (ISTA), was likely to succeed on the merits of its claims. It found that the form “violates Indiana’s common law principles governing employment contracts and is illusory.”

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ACLU signals intent to sue Colorado school district on behalf of breastfeeding teacher

In a precursor to a planned lawsuit, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed a “notice of claim” on behalf of a teacher allegedly terminated for pumping breast milk on the job, reports the Associated Press (AP) in the Seattle Post Intelligencer.

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Federal district court magistrate in Oregon holds that employee could not bring Equal Protection retaliation claim

A federal district court magistrate in Oregon has ruled that a bus driver, who was employed by a private contractor that provides transportation services for a school district, failed to state a valid retaliation claim under the federal constitution’s Equal Protection Clause based his discharge after refusing to remove to a Confederate flag from display on his personal vehicle while parked in the contractor’s lot. As a result, the magistrate recommended that the district court dismiss the claim with prejudice.

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Federal appellate court holds former school district employee stated valid freedom of association claim based on continued relationship with former boss

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (CA, OR, WA, AZ, MT, ID, NV, AK, HI, GU, MP), in a 2-1 split, has ruled that a former school district employee stated a valid claim for retaliation based on her exercising her right to free association. The panel’s majority found that the former employee, who alleged she was forced to retire because of her continued relationship with her former boss, was engaged in action on a matter of public concern, and that the school district had failed to show her action had actually caused or was reasonably likely to cause disruption in the workplace in the future.

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U.S. Supreme Court holds public employee claiming retaliation for exercise of Petition Clause rights must meet public concern test

The U.S. Supreme Court, in a 8-1 split, has ruled that a public employee’s claim of retaliation by his government employer does not give rise to liability under the First Amendment’s Petition Clause unless the “petition” relates to a matter of public concern. The Court agreed with those federal circuit courts of appeal that have applied the public concern test associated with public employee Speech Clause claims to Petition Clause claims. Citing the “extensive common ground in the definition and delineation of these rights,” it concluded: “The considerations that shape the application of the Speech Clause to public employees apply with equal force to claims by those employees under the Petition Clause.”

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Group of white teachers file suit against Pennsylvania school district alleging racial discrimination

Four white teachers at Thomas Mifflin Elementary School (TMES) have filed suit against the Philadelphia School District (PSD), the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers Union (PFTU), TMES’s former principal and other school officials, alleging racial discrimination, says Courthouse News Service. Their suit charges that they were the victims of various forms of race-based disparate treatment at the hands of administrators, including being accused by Principal Charles Ray III “of being unfit to teach the African American students.”

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Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issues final rules on the Americans with Disabilities Act

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has issued final Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) regulations and accompanying interpretive guidance to implement the ADA Amendments Act of 2008. The ADA Amendments Act rejected the holdings in several Supreme Court decisions and portions of the EEOC’s ADA regulations, thereby making it easier for an individual to establish that he or she has a disability under the Act. Among many other changes, the final regulations list nine rules of construction to determine if an individual is “substantially limited” in a major life activity. Likewise, the regulations offer a long list of impairments which, it should be “easily concluded,” substantially limit a major life activity.

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School security assistant who also coaches is volunteer, not employee, under FLSA

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (MD, NC, SC, VA, WV) has ruled that a high school safety and security assistant, who also held the position of varsity boys golf coach, was not an employee in his capacity as a coach under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), but rather a volunteer and, therefore, not entitled to overtime pay under the FLSA. The panel concluded that the services he performs as a coach were completely divorced from those he performs as a safety and security assistant.

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School bus driver suspended over display of Confederate flag on personal vehicle

According to an Associated Press (AP) report carried by KOMO 4 News, a school bus driver in Oregon has been suspended after refusing to remove a Confederate flag from the antenna of his personal vehicle. Ken Webber, who is employed by First Student Inc., which contracts buses for the Phoenix-Talent School District, had been driving the kindergarten bus. When Superintendent Ben Bergreen saw the flag on Webber’s truck parked at the school bus yard, he told Webber’s supervisor that the flag had to go, or Webber had to go. The school district owns the bus yard and leases it to First Student.

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Tennessee school district’s random drug testing policy for teachers declared unconstititional by federal district court

A federal district court in Tennessee has ruled that a school board’s policy subjecting teachers to random drug testing violates teachers’ Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches because it lacks proper notice and is unreasonably implemented. The court declined to rule that random drug testing of teachers is unconstitutional per se.

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