17:27
Brief
Undercurrent
Supreme Court leaves injunction against ‘sickouts’ in place while appeal plays out
The injunction opens the door for possible fines and punishments for the teachers union. (Photo: April Corbin Girnus/Nevada Current)
The Nevada Supreme Court on Friday denied the Clark County Education Association’s request to stay an injunction against it for recent “rolling sickouts” that have shut down schools and disrupted instruction within the Clark County School District.
The injunction will remain in place as CCEA’s appeal plays out.
“We are pleased that the injunction granted by the District Court remains in place,” said CCSD in a statement. “As we indicated in response to CCEA’s emergency request to stay the injunction, the only emergency in this case is the continuance of a teacher strike and the resulting harm to children. We believe that CCEA is unlikely to prevail on appeal, and we look forward to making our case before the Nevada Supreme Court.”
District Court Judge Crystal Eller on Wednesday ruled the recent sickouts constitute an illegal strike and issued an injunction on the teachers union and three of its leaders.
No CCSD schools have closed since Eller’s ruling, but the district reported that five schools experienced high numbers of absences on Friday. One of those schools, Desert Oasis High School, in a letter sent to parents said some students had to be “relocated to larger areas of the campus to continue instructional activities.”
The injunction opens the door for possible fines and punishments for the teachers union, its officers and participating educators. CCEA, as the employee labor organization, could face fines of up to $50,000 for each day of continued violation. Individual officers of the union could face fines up to $1,000 per day. Individual employees who participate could be dismissed or suspended by the district.
The Current has asked the district whether it is investigating, or plans to investigate, any individual teachers who have called in sick, but has not yet received a response.
CCEA has maintained that it has not endorsed or organized any sickouts. In their appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court, they argue the injunction is “facially invalid for vagueness, non-specificity, and overbreadth.”
No hearing date has been set by the Nevada Supreme Court.
Our stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. We ask that you edit only for style or to shorten, provide proper attribution and link to our website. AP and Getty images may not be republished. Please see our republishing guidelines for use of any other photos and graphics.
