By Adam Pagnucco.
The Montgomery County Education Association (MCEA) has blasted MCPS’s hiring of Jackson Lewis PC to investigate the recent behavior of principal Joel Beidelman. MCEA has branded them an “anti-worker law firm” and noted their prior history of working for the school system.
From 1994 through 2010, I worked on union organizing campaigns and I will have something to say about Jackson Lewis. For the moment, I reprint MCEA’s press release below.
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August 17, 2023
For Immediate Release: MCEA Responds To MCPS’s Selection of Jackson Lewis To Lead Sexual Harassment Investigation
Contact: Dalbin Osorio, 202-603-5564, mceapress@mceanea.org
In its alleged effort to investigate credible claims of sexual harassment made by MCEA members, MCPS has appointed Jackson Lewis, an anti-worker law firm that has assisted organizations overcome sexual harassment claims in the past.
Rockville, MD- As we have done from the beginning, MCEA will continue to provide support (two images attached below) to our members and ensure that they receive what they need to navigate an awful situation, one that MCPS chose to make worse by ignoring credible allegations and overwhelming evidence. MCPS must fulfill its duty to protect its employees through a truly independent investigator, one with extensive experience in victim-focused sexual misconduct investigations, and one that does not have a pre-existing relationship with the district. We encourage the public to join us in calling for a truly independent investigation, and for MCPS to work with us on reforming their policies so that this never happens again.
Given the scale and scope of allegations employees provided to MCPS, an investigation needs to focus on why MCPS management failed to protect staff and instead promoted the principal. MCPS has now chosen to conduct a second investigation of their complaints using a firm that specializes in protecting management from sexual harassment claims, not in ensuring safe working conditions for employees. Our members displayed extraordinary courage in reporting, through the appropriate MCPS channels, the abuse they were facing. It should not take media attention for MCPS to suddenly recognize and address such an egregious problem that is harming educators, students, and our community.
MCEA represents more than 14,000 classroom teachers, school counselors, speech pathologists, media specialists, and other educators in the Montgomery County Public Schools system; MCEA is one of the largest local affiliates of the National Education Association (NEA) and is a leader in building a new kind of educators’ union that responds to the needs of today’s educators and students. For more information, visit www.mceanea.org.
