My wife has been working for Los Angeles Unified School district since 1996.
She was a substitute teacher in 2002 and became a certified full time teacher in 2003. In Dec 2007 her mother became very ill and no other family members could help take care of her so my wife decided to reduce her hours by resigning her position and becoming a substitute teacher. At the time no one told her that if she changes roles her seniority date will change.
Then in June 2008 she was hired as a full time teacher for a different school within the district. Now with the Reduction in Force (RIF) she will be laid off because the seniority date is based on the June 2008 date she started and none of her previous time with the district will be considered.
They have a rule that if you were a full time substitute (which she was) before you became a teacher then your seniority date will be the date you started subbing.
The UTLA labor union says their hands are tied because it is in the contract she signed in June 2008 that her seniority date will be reset based on the new contract.
My questions are
1) is there any law that dictates what constitutes seniority date for RIFs. I know my mother has worked for the County of Los angeles and her seniority date moves with her regardless of position she is in. It is the first date she began working for the county.
2) Would we have any case with FMLA. She didn't take a leave instead she reduced her hours. She had taken a 3 month leave previously to handle pregnancy and did not have time left to take a leave.
Other teachers who started around the time she originally started are having their RIF's recinded. I feel this is a special situation since she technically never left the district since 2002.
Also we feel like if someone explained to her about the seniority date issue she might not have elected to reduce her hours.
We turned in paperwork for a hearing, and then the district sent something out that needed to be returned within 5 days. We returned it on the 6th day via fax and they just ignored it because it wasn't back within 5 days.
Please let me know if there's anything we can do to appeal her situation.
She was a substitute teacher in 2002 and became a certified full time teacher in 2003. In Dec 2007 her mother became very ill and no other family members could help take care of her so my wife decided to reduce her hours by resigning her position and becoming a substitute teacher. At the time no one told her that if she changes roles her seniority date will change.
Then in June 2008 she was hired as a full time teacher for a different school within the district. Now with the Reduction in Force (RIF) she will be laid off because the seniority date is based on the June 2008 date she started and none of her previous time with the district will be considered.
They have a rule that if you were a full time substitute (which she was) before you became a teacher then your seniority date will be the date you started subbing.
The UTLA labor union says their hands are tied because it is in the contract she signed in June 2008 that her seniority date will be reset based on the new contract.
My questions are
1) is there any law that dictates what constitutes seniority date for RIFs. I know my mother has worked for the County of Los angeles and her seniority date moves with her regardless of position she is in. It is the first date she began working for the county.
2) Would we have any case with FMLA. She didn't take a leave instead she reduced her hours. She had taken a 3 month leave previously to handle pregnancy and did not have time left to take a leave.
Other teachers who started around the time she originally started are having their RIF's recinded. I feel this is a special situation since she technically never left the district since 2002.
Also we feel like if someone explained to her about the seniority date issue she might not have elected to reduce her hours.
We turned in paperwork for a hearing, and then the district sent something out that needed to be returned within 5 days. We returned it on the 6th day via fax and they just ignored it because it wasn't back within 5 days.
Please let me know if there's anything we can do to appeal her situation.
