Teachers Union Boss: Why Caddo COVID Pay is Unfair

Jackie Lansdale, President of Red River United Teachers Union, details the organization's lawsuit against the Caddo School System's COVID "Heroes Pay" distribution.

The Union leaders sent a notification late Sunday night saying that the legal fight which centers on the district's plan to give most employees a 1,000 dollar stipend as "heroes pay" for working during the pandemic.

"We always said that if we couldn't work this out, that's where we would go next," says Lansdale, referring to an earlier threat to sue, "The administration would no move on this and did not recognize the level of what we perceived to be discrimination."

The Red River United suit claims some employees including pregnant women and teachers and staff on disability leave are being excluded from the extra money and they claim that is illegal. The checks are expected to go out in June to employees who have been on the job for 90% of the required time during the pandemic.

"The fact of the matter is," Lansdale continues, "I'm very disappointed that the administration doesn't even know the laws on the books...that are supposed to be enforced at the local level."

In a previous interview with KEEL News, Lansdale Jackie Lansdale had referred to both the Caddo Parish School Board and Superintendent Lamar Goree as "misogynistic" for excluding some groups, including those teachers on maternity leave.