A neighborhood trainer who took maternity go away and was later terminated earlier than securing tenure has gained her attraction in court docket, which dominated that the district “penalized” her for “taking protected leave.”
Former Westwood trainer Pauline Chaloff introduced the college district to court docket over the tenure declare, and she or he had beforehand misplaced her case in entrance of an arbitrator and a Superior Court docket choose.
However now, the Massachusetts Appeals Court docket — the state’s intermediate appellate court docket — has reversed the ruling in favor of Chaloff.
The court docket wrote that Westwood Public Colleges “penalized the teacher for taking protected leave.”
“We conclude that the teacher earned professional teacher status, and her discharge was improper…” the Appeals Court docket later added.
“The judgment of the Superior Court confirming the arbitration award is reversed,” the court docket dominated.
Westwood employed Chaloff via a one-year contract for the 2016-2017 college 12 months, and she or he joined the trainer’s union.
Then after finishing her first 12 months with the district, Chaloff obtained a second contract for the 2017-2018 college 12 months. Throughout that second 12 months, she submitted a request for maternity go away for 56 days, and Westwood granted the go away.
Then within the spring of her third 12 months, Westwood notified her that as a result of her second 12 months was incomplete, she wanted to work a further 12 months to be eligible for tenure.
The varsity’s principal “informed her that because she had taken a (maternity) leave of absence during the 2017-18 school year, she would not be receiving PTS (tenure) and that she would need to work another year in non-PTS status before a decision would be made,” the ruling reads.
“Later that same day, the assistant superintendent of schools told the teacher that ‘requiring an extra year in nonprofessional teacher status was regular practice at the Westwood Public Schools for teachers whose employment had a significant interruption,’ ” the ruling provides.
After that assembly, via a fourth contract, Westwood prolonged her employment for the 2019-2020 college 12 months. Then on Might 15, 2020, Westwood notified Chaloff that she wouldn’t be employed as a trainer for the subsequent college 12 months. This notification ended the trainer’s employment with Westwood.
However Chaloff asserted that she had taught the requisite three consecutive college years to safe tenure. Dissatisfied with Westwood’s motion, she petitioned the Division of Elementary and Secondary Training and requested arbitration.
The arbitrator agreed with Westwood, and a Superior Court docket choose confirmed the award for the district. Then Chaloff introduced the case to the Appeals Court docket.
“By requiring an additional school year and thereby deducting from the length of service credit all days worked during the year in which leave had been taken, Westwood penalized the teacher for taking protected leave,” the court docket dominated.
The court docket cited a Massachusetts statute: Protected go away “shall not affect” the worker’s “seniority, length of service credit,” or “any other advantages or rights of employment.”
“Because it disregards the teacher’s actual ‘length of service credit’ that must not be affected by protected leave, Westwood’s formula for calculating PTS violates (state law),” the court docket dominated. “Due to this fact, the judgments have to be reversed, and the arbitrator’s choice have to be vacated… the arbitrator ‘may award back pay, benefits, reinstatement, and any other appropriate non-financial relief or any combination thereof.’ “
