Photo: Courtesy of Newton Teachers Association
NEWTON, Mass (WBZ NewsRadio) — A local judge for Massachusetts Superior Court has dismissed a lawsuit brought on by Newton parents seeking financial restitution for the teacher’s strike that closed schools in the Boston suburb for 11 days in late January and early February of this year.
The case was brought on by Chicago attorney Daniel Shur, and the motion was immediately dismissed by Judge Christopher Barry-Smith on Tuesday. Attorney Shur is also trying to sue the Chicago Teachers Union over its strike in 2022 and is reportedly active in other right-wing attacks on organized labor, according to a press release.
The lawsuit states that the Newton Teachers Association (NTA) “knowingly, willfully, intentionally chose to break the law by engaging in an illegal strike, which effectively closed Newton Public Schools for 11 days and throwing the lives and educations of 12,000 students and their families into chaos as a result.” As a result of the demonstrations, the NTA was fined a total of $625,000 during the strike.
The NTA responded to the lawsuit in a statement:
“The Newton Teachers Association is pleased that the court agreed to the terms of the return-to-work agreement sought jointly by our union and the School Committee. We are at an important point now to move forward with implementing the terms of our new contract, which allows us to better meet the needs of our students.”
The NTA will have to pay $275,000 to Newton Public Schools as compensatory fines and $350,000 to the state as coercive fines according to the agreed upon settlement.
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