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Sickout subpeonas headed to court AG says Governor's retaliation efforts violate teachers' constitutional rights to free speech By Crystal Staley/Kenneth Mansfield Frankfort, KY - - In an effort to defend teachers' First Amendment rights, Attorney General Andy Beshear, joined by the Jefferson County Teachers Association (JCTA), filed a lawsuit today in Franklin Circuit Court to stop the governor's unlawful "sickout" subpoenas. After the governor and his Labor Cabinet refused to rescind their subpoenas last week, Beshear filed suit and is asking a judge to issue a temporary restraining order to ensure school districts are not forced to respond to the subpoenas by the May 10 deadline and to protect teachers from being fined. At issue in the case is the administration's use of a state labor law to seek records and names of teachers and possibly fine them up to $1,000 a day for allegedly using sick days to attend rallies in support of public education. Beshear said the labor secretary does not have the authority to request the information or penalize teachers. "This is the worst example of bullying I have seen in state government - and sadly it is coming from the governor," said Beshear. "I am keeping my word and taking action to stop the governor from retaliating against our teachers and obstructing their constitutional rights of free speech." Beshear added that holding the important job title of teacher should never lead to a restriction of one's First Amendment rights. "For their standing up for public education, this governor called our teachers names, claimed they were responsible for children being harmed and even went as far to blame teacher protests on a child being shot," said Beshear. "The governor's comments are despicable and his actions are unlawful. Enough is enough." On April 16, Beshear sent a letter requesting the governor and his Labor Cabinet rescind "sickout" subpoenas sent to local school districts within 10 days. Bath, Boyd, Bullitt, Carter, Fayette, Jefferson, Letcher, Madison, Marion and Oldham county school districts received the subpoenas. The subpoenas were not withdrawn and the Labor Cabinet secretary responded by sending a letter to Beshear last week saying he intends to investigate and impose consequences against Kentucky teachers for protesting at the Capitol. In the lawsuit Beshear writes that the Labor Cabinet's actions are unlawful because the so-called "sickouts" were not related to conditions of the school employees' employment, but instead related to attempted attacks on public school funding, and therefore constitute free speech protected by the First Amendment. Beshear's lawsuit is supported by a Michigan case, where a court found that a teachers' "sickout" was based on "complaints to the state government to rectify educational, financial and structural problems in the Detroit Public School District, and not issues concerning the rights, privileges or conditions of their employment." The court found their actions were not in violation of the state's labor laws, but instead were constitutionally protected free speech. Beshear said, given the similarity to Kentucky, it is clear these actions are protected by the First Amendment. In the complaint, Beshear also argues that the labor secretary exceeded his authority, as the teachers were not taking part in a "strike" or a "work stoppage" under state law, KRS 336.130. Instead, they were engaged in protected political speech. Beshear said the General Assembly did not grant the labor secretary the power to investigate or punish public employees. The next step in the case will be a hearing on the temporary restraining order. Beshear's legal team is seeking a Monday, May 6 hearing. As the state's chief law enforcement officer, it is Beshear's duty to protect the people of Kentucky. Since taking office, Beshear has taken action multiple times when the governor attacked public education and educators. Beshear sued the governor when he illegally cut the budgets of state universities. The Kentucky Supreme Court agreed those cuts were illegal and the governor was forced to return $18 million to the universities. Beshear also challenged the governor over a sewer bill turned pension bill that unlawfully stripped retirement benefits from more than 250,000 teachers and public employees. Beshear stopped harmful cuts to the earned benefits of public employees with a unanimous win in front of the Kentucky Supreme Court last year. This year, Beshear argued once again in front of the Supreme Court that the governor does not have the authority to rewrite state laws that control the independence of the public school board systems. A ruling in that case is pending. This story was posted on 2019-04-29 14:54:20
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Machine Absentee Voting for May 21, 2019 Primary Election Republican Party monthly meeting, Thu 18 Apr 2019 Monday is last day to register to vote in primary election Gov. Bevin Vetoes House Bill 358 Copycat bills from outside interests are common in KY legislature Sen. Max Wise's Legislative Update - Tue 2 Apr 2019 Financial Empowerment Commission created by HB139 Commentary: The School Safety Act Nonprofit Sales Tax Exemption effective March 26 KY Lawmakers approve pension relief for universities, public agencies View even more articles in topic Politics |
 
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