Labor Arbitration Victory

An arbitrator ordered the Madison Metropolitan School District to return a Special Education Assistant to her job with back pay and benefits, after finding that the District fired the Madison Teachers Inc. member without just cause. Attorneys Tamara Packard and Leslie Freehill represented the union to enforce its member’s rights under Wisconsin’s last remaining full collective bargaining agreement protecting school district employees. Packard and Freehill demonstrated that the District had failed to train the SEA as to its expectations, though the SEA had shown her capability to learn and was appreciated by the teachers who worked with her. They also showed that the principal who made the decision to terminate had blown the allegations of wrongdoing out of proportion.