Those who work in education in Colorado may be interested in a number of employment law claims made with respect to public school employees in another state. The wrongful termination cases were recently settled. In excess of $400,000 must now be paid with regard to three separate employment law cases.
The first case related to cafeteria employees who complained that a high school cafeteria manager drank alcohol at school. They also alleged that the same individual falsified payroll records at the school. A claim was filed when the cafeteria workers were let go, and it subsequently resulted in a settlement of $13,500.
The second case involved a personnel regional officer who was accused of improperly accessing a state-wide criminal justice data base at school and was then terminated. A hearing officer overturned the firing, but the hearing officer was then fired the following day. The original wrongful termination claim dragged on for years and has now been settled for $325,000.
The third case involved an employee who was fired for alleged violation of the violence policy at work. He challenged that termination and won the case. Ultimately, his case was settled for the sum of $80,000 as a result of the suit.
A wrongful termination suit against a Colorado employer can be a lengthy process. One of the above cases spanned six years. However if successful, a lawsuit can result in back pay, back benefits and other financial damages that may prove beneficial as a person moves forward after having suffered a wrongful termination. In these cases, settlements were ultimately authorized and were just part of the estimated $3 million in employment law claim settlements that the state of Hawaii anticipates authorizing this year.
Source: hawaiinewsnow.com, “Wrongful schools termination cases costing $418K“, Keoki Kerr, March 26, 2015