HSE teachers union alleges top district official created 'hostile work environment'

Representatives from Hamilton Southeastern’s teachers union are alleging that school district leaders are interfering with union practices, creating a hostile work environment and threatening to halt collective bargaining rights.

The union filed an unfair labor practice complaint last week detailing a series of communications between HSE’s assistant superintendent of human resources Brian Murphy and HSE Education Association president Abby Taylor that Taylor alleges were “threatening and harassing” and led to her filing a separate hostile work environment complaint against Murphy.

HSE teachers have been filling the school district’s monthly school board meetings for the last two months, but since HSE’s school board meeting rules dictate that public comment must address an agenda item, no teachers have spoken publicly about the dispute.

Taylor told IndyStar that she hopes the school board takes the complaint seriously and that more respect is given to teachers in the district.

“Teacher working conditions are student working conditions and if teachers aren't being treated professionally and respected, then our students are the ones who will ultimately suffer from that,” Taylor said.

Two months of squabbles

The tense communication began in April when HSE and the union started discussing “the need to right-size staffing in grades K-6 due to enrollment projections,” according to the ULP complaint.

In the hostile work environment complaint Taylor filed on May 2, she says that the “aggressive” communications began in a meeting in which teachers raised concerns that the district’s move to make general education teachers become special education teachers was not being handled correctly.

The ULP complaint alleges that HSE has yet to respond to Taylor’s hostile work environment complaint.

HSE’s director of school and community relations Emily Abbotts told IndyStar that the district is aware of the ULP complaint but would not provide any further information or comment on the case.

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The ULP complaint details a series of texts between Taylor and Murphy after that initial meeting in April about proper protocol not being followed, and Murphy accused Taylor of being passive-aggressive in a brief phone call.

After that phone call, Murphy texted Taylor that he would reach out to state union leaders and lawmakers about her behavior.

In another conversation, Murphy told Indiana State Teachers Association representatives that if the situation between him and Taylor did not improve, he would contact Indiana Speaker of the House Todd Huston to end HSE’s collective bargaining rights.

The complaint says the union is asking for the district to stop any further unfair labor practices and pay $5,000 to the HSEA for each unfair labor practice found.

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This complaint comes after a tumultuous school year for HSE. The district welcomed a new superintendent, Pat Mapes, in February after previous superintendent Yvonne Stokes abruptly left in September.

Murphy is also a recent hire for the district and started working in his role at HSE in March. Before that, he was the chief of staff of the Indiana Department of Education and the executive director for the Indiana State Board of Education, according to his LinkedIn profile.

The ULP complaint now goes to a hearing examiner from the Indiana Education Employment Relations Board for review.

Contact IndyStar reporter Caroline Beck at 317-618-5807 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter: @CarolineB_Indy.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: HSE teachers allege 'hostile work environment' in union's complaint