A group of teachers and other school personnel in some of Chicago’s west suburbs have filed suit against the school districts that employ them, as they seek a court order preventing their school districts from enforcing an order from Gov. JB Pritzker, requiring them to either get vaccinated against COVID-19 or submit to weekly COVID tests, or risk losing their jobs.
Attorney Patrick J. Walsh, of the firm of Griffin Williams McMahon & Walsh, of Geneva, filed suit in Kane County Circuit Court against Community Unit School Districts 303 and 304, which serve the communities of St. Charles and Geneva, respectively.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of named plaintiffs Nicole Cournaya, Jeffrey Otterby, Christine White and Terry Todd. According to the complaint, Cournaya and Otterby work as teachers in St. Charles District 303; White serves as an assistant to a school principal in District 303; and Todd is a bus driver and instructor of other bus drivers in Geneva District 304.
Patrick J. Walsh
| Griffin Williams McMahon & Walsh
However, the lawsuit seeks to expand the action to include virtually everyone else who works in those school districts.
“This is not about being anti-vaccine,” said Walsh, in comments to the Cook County Record. “This is about being pro-Constitution.”
The lawsuit centers on Pritzker’s so-called Executive Order 87. That order, issued on Aug. 26, gave everyone working at public schools in Illinois 30 days to “receive two doses of COVID-19 vaccine,” or submit to “at least weekly COVID-19 testing.” Those who refused to do so could be at risk of suspension or even termination, under policies crafted by school districts in response to Pritzker’s order.
According to the complaint, Districts 303 and 304 altered their COVID policies that same day to comply with Pritzker’s order.
The complaint does not take aim directly at Pritzker’s Order 87. Rather, the plaintiffs are seeking an order prohibiting the two school districts from enforcing the order.
Walsh said the plaintiffs decided to target the school districts rather than Pritzker, because “it would be the school districts that would be enforcing it, and it would be officials from those districts that would escort these teachers off the premises, if they didn’t comply.”
By targeting the school districts rather than the governor’s order, the lawsuit also could avoid being automatically sent to a judge in Springfield, where virtually all other lawsuits challenging Pritzker’s use of emergency powers amid the COVID pandemic have been sent.
For instance, a lawsuit brought by a Geneva restaurant owner challenging the governor’s power to order restaurant dining rooms closed was also first filed in Kane County, but was ultimately sent to Sangamon County Circuit Court in Springfield, where it remains pending.
Pritzker is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit.
However, the educators’ complaint does assert Pritzker’s Order 87 oversteps the limit of state authority and tramples on the due process rights of educators in Districts 303 and 304, if not in the entire state.
Specifically, the lawsuit asserts these educators should have rights under Illinois law to challenge the validity of any “modified quarantine” order issued by state authorities. The lawsuit asserts the definition of “modified quarantine” would include any kind of compulsory vaccination as a condition of employment issued by the governor.
Walsh said the lawsuit argues the governor lacks the authority to issue any kind of vaccination mandate, without first taking the order through the Illinois Department of Public Health.
But, even if he did have such powers, Walsh said, the lawsuit argues workers who are subjected to the mandate are still entitled to their due process rights to contest the mandate, on an individual basis.
The educators are seeking a temporary restraining order from the court, forbidding Districts 303 and 304 from enforcing the allegedly improper “modified quarantine” orders, for now. The complaint seeks a permanent order, as well, forbidding school districts from enforcing Pritzker’s order, and to take the mandates through appropriate channels within local and state public health agencies.
Walsh said he was unsure how many other employees would seek to be excused from the vaccine mandate. However, he said he has heard from “several hundred” workers within Districts 303 and 304 opposed to the mandates, and “thousands” of people working in school districts throughout the Chicago area, who would welcome such court orders forbidding enforcement of the governor’s vaccination mandate orders.
“This is a legal issue, not a medical issue,” said Walsh. “The relief we are requesting would not stop a single person from being vaccinated.
“We are only asking that the courts require the government to provide the due process all of these educators are entitled to.”