Vermont-NEA News

Caledonia Cooperative SU Superintendent Violated Labor Law With Threats of Teacher Termination

Caledonia Cooperative SU Superintendent Violated Labor Law With Threats of Teacher Termination

In unfair labor charge filed today, Caledonia Cooperative Education Association asks Vermont Labor Relations Board to Order an end to Superintendent’s Intimidation

MONTPELIER – The Caledonia Cooperative Supervisory Union’s superintendent violated Vermont labor law when the district’s lawyer threatened to fire union educators who released the results of a survey showing a climate of intimidation, according to a charge filed today with the Vermont Labor Relations Board.

The filing comes less than two weeks after the district’s attorney sent an email to Vermont-NEA’s general counsel asserting that the district might fire members of the Caledonia Cooperative Education Association for breaching “a duty of loyalty” by distributing the survey results, which showed widespread dissatisfaction with Superintendent Mathew Forest.

“That the district would threaten to fire educators for releasing information to the public about a climate of distrust, mismanagement, and intimidation proves the point that Dr. Forest would rather fight against than work with educators to make the schools better,” the union said after the threats were made.

In today’s filing, the union asserted that Dr. Forest and the district’s attorney committed six unfair labor practices, including interfering, restraining and coercing employees from engaging in union activities by threatening to terminate employees for issuing a press release about their survey results; interfering, restraining and coercing employees from engaging in union activities by threatening to retaliate against union members; and discriminating against employees for engaging in protected union activities. The district also violated labor law by refusing to provide mailing addresses for the elected school board members. (You can read the complete labor board filing here.)

The union asks the labor board for “an order directing the (district) to cease and desist from violating Vermont’s labor laws, including an order directing Superintendent Mathew Forest to cease and desist from intimidating, threatening, and retaliating against employees; and another order directing Superintendent Forest to cease and desist from creating a climate of coercion which has caused fear and anxiety among the employees and worked to chill protected activity.”

Frustration with Dr. Forest has been growing for years, according to the survey and to educators – current and former – who work in the district’s schools. Indeed, the survey included comments from educators expressing their fear of Dr. Forest. One educator said in the survey, “Dr. Forest does not model the effective practices he preaches. He has created a toxic environment.” Another educator wrote, “He has created an unsafe and unhealthy working environment.” And another said, “The fact that people warn each other when he comes in makes me feel nervous and sad.”

The survey showed that 60 percent of respondents said they disapproved of Dr. Forest’s performance, while only 19 percent approved; 21 percent expressed no opinion.

After the results of the survey were released to the press, the district’s lawyer wrote an email to Vermont-NEA’s top lawyer.

“Before advising my client concerning whether there is a right to terminate the responsible employees, I thought it would be helpful to further understand [the union’s] legal position on the issue,” Burlington lawyer Pietro Lynn wrote. “I worry that this kind of behavior will prove counterproductive for your members.” He claimed that releasing the survey “appears to be a breach of the employees’ duty of loyalty to the employer.”

“Threatening us with termination because we pointed out that Dr. Forest creates a climate of intimidation proves the point: he prefers intimidation over cooperation,” said Bill Douglas, a special education paraeducator at the Peacham School who serves as the union’s spokesman. “We’ve tried to work this out directly with him, to no avail. We’ve brought our concerns to the board, and still his bullying and intimidation continues. We want the community to know that such a culture is not good for our students.”

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Darren Allen Sep 26 2018
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