Lexington woman, educators’ union sued over teachers’ ‘sick-out’ that closed schools

Karla Ward, Valarie Honeycutt Spears
·3 min read
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A Lexington woman and the organization she co-founded are being sued for their alleged role in a “sick-out” by Kentucky teachers who protested a restructuring of the state Teachers’ Retirement System board five years ago.

Nema Brewer and KY120 United-AFT — a union that represents educators, state employees and school staff members — are named as defendants in the lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Fayette Circuit Court.

“Kentucky law is very clear: ‘no public employee, collectively or individually, may engage in a strike or work stoppage,’” the suit states.

The lawsuit accuses Brewer and KY120 of organizing “thousands of educational employees to break that law through a concerted work stoppage” on Feb. 28, 2019. It says more than 150,000 Kentucky students were affected because eight school districts were forced to cancel school that day.

The suit was filed on behalf of two parents with children enrolled in Jefferson County Public Schools, Miranda Stovall and Noor Fadel.

Their attorneys argue in the court filing that the school closing “threw families across Kentucky into chaos as students missed class, parents had to take vacation days or pay out-of-pocket for babysitters, and everyone was stressed and anxiety-ridden.”

The suit was filed by Lexington attorney Peter Ecabert and Chicago attorney Daniel Suhr, who are seeking damages and judicial relief on behalf of parents and students, saying the court should “send a clear message to public employees across Kentucky and the country,” the complaint states.

Suhr and attorney Patrick Hughes have filed similar lawsuits against the Newton Teachers Association in Massachusetts and the Chicago Teachers Union, a news release they issued stated.

“To this point there have been zero consequences for anyone who broke the law here, so can we be surprised at more illegal sickouts and strikes shutting down schools in Kentucky and other states? Students and parents deserve justice, accountability, and compensation for the damage inflicted by these illegal strikes,” Suhr said in the release.

KY120 United-AFT organizer Laura Hartke said Wednesday in a news release that the lawsuit was “frivolous” and would be resolved quickly.

“Coming after me personally will not stop the movement that was born in this state in 2018,“ Brewer said in the news release. “It will not silence the thousands of voices of public school employees and allies who demand to be heard,” said Brewer.

Teachers were back in Frankfort in Frankfort to protest a bill that would restructure the board of the Teachers Retirement System. Teachers in Fayette, Jefferson, Madison and other counties staged a “sick out” on the same day a hearing is planned on the bill.
Teachers were back in Frankfort in Frankfort to protest a bill that would restructure the board of the Teachers Retirement System. Teachers in Fayette, Jefferson, Madison and other counties staged a “sick out” on the same day a hearing is planned on the bill.

The teachers who descended on the state Capitol in Frankfort on Feb. 28, 2019, were there to oppose House Bill 525, which would have given the Kentucky Education Association less sway on the board of the Teachers Retirement System of Kentucky.

Schools in Fayette, Jefferson, Boyd, Letcher, Carter, Bath, Madison and Marion counties were closed that day.

At the time, Brewer told a Herald-Leader reporter that she took issue with one legislator referring to the sick-out as “a strike.”

“This is not a strike,” she said. “It’s an advocacy day for our people to learn who all the rats are around here.”

And she said the teachers’ presence was not just about HB 525: “She said it was about “the last year, it’s about every attack, every insult, it’s about every person who has felt less in their profession because their own government feels that way,” the Herald-Leader article stated.

Educators and supporters gathered inside the Capitol Annex in Frankfort for the House State Government Committee meeting Thursday. Some teachers in the state staged a “sick out” and forced schools to close over a proposed bill that would eliminate educator control of a board overseeing investments for the Teacher Retirement System.
Educators and supporters gathered inside the Capitol Annex in Frankfort for the House State Government Committee meeting Thursday. Some teachers in the state staged a “sick out” and forced schools to close over a proposed bill that would eliminate educator control of a board overseeing investments for the Teacher Retirement System.

The measure the teachers were protesting that day ultimately did not pass.

The Kentucky Labor Cabinet, under the administration of then-Gov. Matt Bevin, investigated the sick-outs that took place during the 2019 legislative session and found that more than 1,000 teachers had violated state law by participating, but no civil penalties were assessed against them.

Gov. Andy Beshear, who was attorney general at the time, engaged in a legal battle with the Bevin administration over access to the participating teachers’ attendance records.