Federal judge agrees with Beshear, returns case to state court
FRANKFORT, KY. (June 27, 2019) – A lawsuit Attorney General Andy Beshear and the Jefferson County Teachers Association filed to stop the governor’s unlawful sickout subpoenas and to prevent Bevin from fining teachers up to $1,000 per day was rightfully returned to state court today by a federal judge.
Judge Danny C. Reeves of the Eastern District of Kentucky granted Beshear’s motion to remand, ordering the case sent back to state court because all of the issues in the complaint involve Kentucky law.
Beshear said the federal judge agreed that this case should be decided by Kentucky courts.
“Matt Bevin’s effort to remove this case to federal court was a stall tactic intended to further intimidate our Kentucky teachers,” Beshear said. “I will continue to fight in state court to ensure no teacher is bullied or fined by this administration.”
At issue in the case is the administration’s unlawful use of a state labor law to seek records and names of teachers and possibly fine them up to $1,000 a day for allegedly using sick days to attend rallies in support of public education. Beshear has argued that the labor secretary does not have the authority to subpoena the information or penalize teachers.
As the state’s chief law officer, it is Beshear’s duty to protect the people of Kentucky. Since taking office, Beshear has taken action multiple times when the governor attacked public education and educators.
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