Appeals Court Affirms Arbitration Reinstatement of Teacher, Originally Won By Pyle Rome Attorney

The Massachusetts Appeals Court became the second court to affirm that a teacher, even if unlicensed, remains an employee with collective bargaining and statutory rights unless and until terminated pursuant to the Education Reform Act. Attorney Patrick Bryant, prior to joining Pyle Rome Ehrenberg, PC, successfully represented the Marshfield Education Association and its member at arbitration. John Becker of Sandulli Grace, PC, has successfully defended the arbitration victory in court.

An educational license is necessary to teach in a Massachusetts public school. Marshfield assigned Gerald O'Sullivan to teach in special education, which was outside his license area. The District received waivers from the Department of Education & Special Education (DESE) to enable O'Sullivan to work his assignment.

As his underlying five-year license was set to expire, Gerald O'Sullivan requested that his superintendent verify O'Sullivan's direct field experience in order to qualify him for a special education license. The Superintendent declined, wrongly claiming that direct field experience did not qualify for a license. To make matters worse, the DESE denied the District's latest request for a license waiver for O'Sullivan.

O'Sullivan then requested an unpaid leave of absence so he could obtain his license through alternative means. The District declined, arguing that an unlicensed teacher lacked the right to file a grievance or obtain benefits under the CBA. O'Sullivan obtained his license a few months later.

The Arbitrator agreed with the Union that the teacher remained an employee at the time of his leave request because the District never pursued the strict process to terminate a teacher under the Education Reform Act. The Arbitrator, and now two courts, rejected the District's claims that O'Sullivan's license expiration meant that he was no longer a teacher with rights under the contract or state law. The courts affirmed that the loss of a license does not, without more, deprive teacher status under the Education Reform Act.

Finally, the Court ruled that the arbitrator's grant of a one-year unpaid leave of absence did not violate the public policy of employing only licensed teachers, given that the award did not require the District to permit him to teach.