TimesLeader.com

Court tosses teacher suit vs. diocese

Union leader Michael Milz had lost his job when the diocesan schools reorganized.

By Sheena Delazio sdelazio@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

WILKES-BARRE – A Luzerne County judge has thrown out a lawsuit filed by a former Diocese of Scranton teacher and teachers’ union president who alleged that he was laid off because of his involvement with the union.

Judge Peter Paul Olszewski Jr. said in court papers on Monday that he dismissed the lawsuit against the diocese because county court does not have the right to change public policy.

Michael Milz taught at the former Bishop Hoban High School from 1975 to June 2008. He also served as president of the Scranton Diocese Association of Catholic Teachers, which had unionized teachers in area parochial schools.

The union lost its right to represent Catholic school teachers when the diocese reorganized schools in 2007, eliminating the small local boards with which the union had negotiated.

In January 2008, the diocese rejected the association’s request to unionize teachers under the new system.

When he was laid off last summer, Milz insisted he had been targeted because of his union activities. Milz filed a complaint with the state Labor Relations Board but said he knew the board would refuse to accept jurisdiction in the case. The state Supreme Court has ruled Catholic school teachers are not covered by the law that established the board.

The suit sought $57,806 in lost earnings plus additional amounts for fringe benefits, as well as lost future earnings. It also asked that Milz be reinstated as a teacher at the school, now called Holy Redeemer.

But Olszewski said in a two-page order that “(Milz) is an at-will employee, he is not covered by an employment contract or a collective bargaining agreement, and the trial court has no prerogative to legislate or declare public policy of this commonwealth.”

In April, the diocese filed a response to the lawsuit in which its attorneys said Milz is not entitled to recovery on the claims because he is an “at-will” employee and because there is no applicable public policy exception to the doctrine of employment at-will.

The diocese said Milz was not employed under the terms of an employment contract or a collective bargaining agreement.

“There can remain no doubt that (Milz) was an at-will employee. It is well accepted that an at-will employee may be fired for any reason or no reason at all.”

Further, the response states, “what (Milz) is asking this court to do is to entangle itself in parsing the motivations of Church authorities in reducing the number of staff positions at Holy Redeemer High School.”

The response states county court does not have jurisdiction over the matter because that jurisdiction belongs to the state Labor Relations Board.