[Job Protection Program Comparison Chart]
I. Third Party Liability. UEA drafted and supported the state employee indemnification law requiring public employers, i.e., school districts, to defend and indemnify educators sued for acts or omissions that occur while the educator was acting within the course and scope of employment. Coverage is broad form but limited to $250,000.* There are several exclusions contained in the law and public sector employers have added more exclusions in recent years. Because one of these exclusions requires that an employee be "within the course and scope of employment," school districts have claimed that when an employee does something which school policy prohibits, the act or omission is not within the course and scope of employment, i.e., "the employee will at all times carefully monitor each student." UEA has threatened to sue school districts which have initially declined to defend educators where the district or the Utah Division of Risk Management ("Risk Management") claimed the employee was not acting within the course and scope of employment when a loss occurred. In several cases, UEA has assumed the defense of educators where the district or its insurer (usually Risk Management) refused to defend the suit. Districts generally do not defend educators charged with criminal conduct. Often, district administrators make the charge, especially where the educator is accused of some form of child abuse. No school district insurance policy provides representation where the district takes an adverse action against the employee.
II. NEA/UEA Insurance. Membership in the NEA/UEA means that the member is covered by an Association insurance policy which provides three kinds of protection:
(1) $1,000,000 liability coverage which is primarily for injuries to students, but may include any kind of injury including property damages. Cases involving civil rights violations are limited to$250,000.
(2) $35,000 to defend the member against criminal charges. Educators use the NEA/UEA insurance primarily for defending criminal charges of assault and child abuse. School districts are required to conduct independent investigations of allegations of child abuse and seldom provide criminal defense costs to educators. Except in cases involving the administration of corporal punishment, the HM defense costs are not paid unless the criminal charge is dismissed. Educators are more often than not acquitted of the charges or the charges are dismissed; therefore, the insurer pays for criminal defense costs in a majority of the cases.
(3) $500 for assault related to personal property damage, i.e., damage to clothing, eye glasses, occurring during a job-related assault.
UEA
attorneys handle approximately 40 civil and criminal defense cases each
school year. Defense costs have varied from $100,000 in one year to $20,000
in another. Costs and the number of cases are increasing.
The most frequently used part of the NEA/UEA/HM is for criminal defense. While more cases are won than lost, spending $20,000 to defend a member is not unusual. Risk Management does not ordinarily defend or indemnify public employees charged with a crime even if the employee is exonerated.
NEA/UEA insurance in civil cases is in addition to Risk Management's. Accordingly, a NEA/UEA member is actually covered for $1,250,000!
III. NEA/UEA Legal Services. NEA/UEA provides legal assistance relating to any kind of disciplinary action taken against an employee including parental complaints, criminal allegations, terminations, suspensions, reprimands, job assignments, and career ladder benefits. UEA also provides $1,000 "up front expenses" to pay criminal defense costs. It is in this area where the employer provides no financial assistance and UEA expends a significant amount of its resources – over $250,000 annually. Additionally, the Utah State Office of Education (USOE) has quadrupled its prosecutorial/investigative budget. Dozens of educators are investigated each year. School districts and Risk Management provide no assistance to educators investigated or prosecuted by the USOE.
UEA employs a full-time attorney. Fifteen UniServ directors assist hundreds of Utah educators each year with employment disputes, insurance, unemployment, and workers' compensation claims. These individuals support the school district when it takes the educator's side and provide support solely to the member when the district does not support the educator.
In district actions against the employee, Risk Management provides no protection to educators. While some private companies claim to provide comprehensive legal coverage, the deductions and limitations of these policies limit the company's obligations to the insured. Often these policies provide little or no protection for job-related legal issues. In parental/student complaints against educators, the district reaction is mixed, sometimes supporting the educator, sometimes not. In the area of criminal complaints, the district usually remains neutral at best. Where the charge against the educator is sexual harassment, misconduct or abuse, the district has an obligation to be objective and conduct an independent investigation. The district cannot initially side with the educator. It is in the investigatory phase of any complaint against an educator that he/she stands alone unless the association is there to provide advice, legal counsel, private investigators, and/or financial assistance.
In an area of representation hardly mentioned ten years ago, UEA provides assistance to dozens of educators under siege from students and parents. Too often students falsely accuse educators of wrongful conduct and oftentimes parents assault, defame and misrepresent educators. UEA has developed sophisticated but fair ways of responding to parents and students who assault, defame or falsely accuse educators of wrongdoing. Each year, NEA/UEA funds litigation against individuals who defame, slander, libel or assault our members.