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LA teachers' union and longtime educator clash over police abolition views, leading to lawsuit

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA RECORD

Sunday, December 22, 2024

LA teachers' union and longtime educator clash over police abolition views, leading to lawsuit

Federal Court
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LOS ANGELES - A Glendale educator sued the United Teaches Los Angeles teachers' union, the Los Angeles Unified School District and California Attorney General Xavier Becerra because the union allegedly refused to let him resign for months.

According to documents filed on March 16 in L.A. federal court, plaintiff Glenn Laird has witnessed many violent episodes in his 38 years as a teacher, during which he says the presence of campus officers have made the difference between life and death, including students fighting with weapons, shootings and stranglings. 

The suit says that the union has been highly vocal of its advocacy for the "defund the police" movement, in particular campus officers. Laird, after his history of witnessing violence on campus, disagreed with the movement. 

Since his political morals about the police do not align with the union, Laird chose to opt out of paying his dues to the union and cancel his membership after almost 40 years of being a member, the suit says.

According to the suit, the UTLA repeatedly denied his request to resign and continued to charge him membership dues. The school district, which takes the union dues out of teachers' paychecks, continued to do so despite the plaintiff's wishes, he says.

The UTLA is accused of wrongfully taking over $700 in membership dues from an educator who did not want to be a union member. 

The defendants are charged with violation of the right to freedom of speech and deprivation of liberty and property interests without due process of law. Laird requests the membership dues taken be returned as well as compensatory damages. 

The plaintiff is represented by the Freedom Foundation of Olympia, Washington. 

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