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A Supreme Win

Supreme Court Affirms CIR Ruling Favoring South Sioux City Teacher; Also Victorious in District Court



  Watch Video of Manning Case 
  To watch video of NSEA Attorney Scott Norby  
  arguing Bethany Manning's case before the  
  Nebraska Supreme Court,  Click here. 
  Look under the Wednesday, Sept. 2, listings, and  
  click on 'View Oral Arguments for the day.'  
  The Manning case is the first case on the video. 
Something seemed amiss to Bethany Manning when she accepted a teaching job with the South Sioux City Public Schools in June 2007.

 


Hired as the district deaf and hard of hearing teacher, she was to replace a teacher who was moving out of state. Yet Manning was told she would be a long-term substitute, rather than a first-year, probationary teacher.

 


"When I was hired, it didn't seem right," she said.

 


The South Sioux City Education Association agreed and, with NSEA's help, filed a grievance with the school district on her behalf. The district denied the grievance, but at the next step, the Nebraska Commission of Industrial Relations concurred with the Association.

 

Dissatisfied with the CIR ruling, the school district appealed. On Sept. 25, and without dissent, the Nebraska Supreme Court emphatically reinforced the CIR opinion that the district had engaged in a prohibited labor practice. Manning, the high court said, was not a substitute. "To allow the District to designate her as such would, as the CIR determined, allow the District to 'unilaterally control the composition of the bargaining unit.'"

 


The rulings set firm boundaries in hiring practices for all Nebraska public schools, said NSEA Attorney Scott Norby.

 

"If a school district can say someone is not a member of the bargaining unit simply by the label they put on that person, it's a detriment to the individual member and to the bargaining unit," said Norby.

 


Individually, as a substitute teacher, Manning did not have retirement, health care and salary schedule placement benefits she would enjoy as a new hire. She was also outside the protection of the SSCEA's negotiated unit, as well as the protections she should have had with probationary certificated status.

 

"If they can do it to me -- treat me as a long-term substitute when I should be a new hire -- they can do it to anyone in my district, or anywhere in the state," said Manning.

 


On a collective level, such hiring practices weaken the local association.

 


"This kind of action is designed to destroy the bargaining unit," said Norby.

 


The Supreme Court decision also affirmed the CIR ruling that the district pay Manning $6,321, the difference between the pay she received as a substitute and the pay she should have received as a first-year, probationary teacher.

 


In a separate case, the District Court of Dakota County ruled that Manning's constitutional right to due process was violated when she was fired, without notice, shortly after the grievance was filed in December 2007. The court awarded Manning more than $80,000 in back pay, plus $25,000 in attorney fees.

 

'Team Player'

With a master's degree from Northern Colorado University, Manning taught in New Mexico and Wyoming before moving to Sioux City, IA, in the mid-1980s with her physician husband. She took time to raise a family before earning another endorsement and updating her certificate about five years ago.

 

Manning had been a substitute in South Sioux City for several years when she appplied for the deaf and hard of hearing job. She was the only one of three applicants with the required endorsement; one applicant had not started student teaching.

 

Manning got the job, but was classified as a long-term sub. When she asked why she wasn't classified as a new hire, Manning was told the applicant pool was too small. The answer didn't sit right, she said, but she liked teaching in South Sioux City. After talking with her husband, she decided to "be a team player," and take the job.

 

In August, Manning talked district officials into letting her attend the district's new teacher meetings and orientation.

 

"I told them I would do it on my own time. I felt they were events I needed to be at to become a better district employee."

 

At the orientation, she made an important decision.

 

"I signed up for membership in the Association, even though I was a substitute," she said. "I was always a member in Wyoming. The Association negotiates my salary and benefits, and I wanted to support them."

 


Later, at a training for new SSCEA members, she spoke with NSEA Director of Member Rights Trish Guinan. Manning quickly had an advocate in her corner. Because of her NSEA membership, the legal battle that was about to unfold would not cost her a dime.

 

'Blacklisted'

In early December, the district told Manning that they were re-opening the position. Manning was welcome to interview again, and did so. But on a Tuesday in mid-December, Manning was told that Thursday would be her last day. The district had hired the summer applicant who had, by now, completed her student teaching requirements and earned a degree.

 

"I have nothing against her; she is not at fault," said Manning.

 


She was back at work at South Sioux City Friday, where she subbed for a Title 1 reading teacher for the next three weeks. Once her grievance was denied and a complaint was filed with the CIR in January 2008, Manning says she was "blacklisted" by the district. She now works for the Sioux City, IA, schools.

 


On Nov. 14, 2008, the CIR directed the district to cease and desist from such hiring practices, and ordered back pay for Manning. The district appealed to the Nebraska Court of Appeals. Before the Court of Appeals could hear arguments, however, the Supreme Court took jurisdiction, heard the case, and affirmed the CIR ruling with its Sept. 25 judgment.

 

Reinstatement Order

While the CIR and Supreme Court cases addressed her hiring, NSEA filed a lawsuit against the district in Dakota County District Court, arguing Manning's statutory and federal civil rights were violated. NSEA contended that because Manning should have been classified as a new hire, complete with due process rights, those rights were violated by the district when Manning was summarily fired. The district court agreed and:

The school district has appealed the district court decision.

 

For Manning, however, all is right with the world. "NSEA worked beautifully for me," she said. "I feel very lucky that I've had all that help -- just for the cost of membership."