[ Collusion ] Chicago Teachers Union worked with the Chicago Public Schools to terminate its own Union Representative
In a recent Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board (IELRB) filing, former CTU Field Representative, Dr. John Kugler has filed collusion charges against the Chicago Teachers Union, his former employer and the Chicago Public Schools for conspiring to have him terminated.
The charges stem from Dr. Kugler filing an Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission (ARDC) charge against Charles Little, a CPS attorney, for what Dr. Kugler believed was an abuse of power of a CPS employee who was being discrimanted against for his sexual orientation and age.
An internal CPS investigation ruled that the there is sufficient evidence to find that [a CPS administrator] made harassing statements about individuals’ races and harassing statements about your age.
The same employee has an ongoing Federal Discrimination lawsuit against the same CPS administrator and Chicago Public Schools for discrimination based on sexual orientation and age (Swenson v. Bd. of City of Chicago, 20-cv-06558 (N.D. Ill. Oct. 12, 2021)https://casetext.com/case/swenson-v-bd-of-city-of-chicago
After the original ARDC charge was filed, CTU Attorney Thad Goodchild communicated with CPS Attorney Libby Massey to exchange information about Dr. Kugler's ARDC filing.
When Dr. Kugler found out that his own union was investigating him for helping a fellow union member, he filed another ARDC charge against CPS Attorney Massey. The new ARDC charge he filed was for sharing information about his advocacy for the CPS teacher that was being discrimanted against and the fear he was being set up to be fired.
Ziedre Foster and Matt Luskin terminated Dr. Kugler on December 16, 2021 saying he had no right to file charges against CPS attorneys to help union members or to protect himself against retalition.
More details regarding this case will be made public as this case moves forward against the Chicago Teachers Union and the Chicago Public Schools.
