MD Court of Special Appeals rules public school bus drivers to lose

Daily Record, The (Baltimore), Sep 27, 2006 by Daniel Ostrovsky

Baltimore County public school bus drivers are not eligible for unemployment benefits between academic terms, the Court of Special Appeals has held.

The Baltimore County Board of Education is an "educational institution" under Labor and Employment Section 8-909, which denies unemployment to employees of an "educational institution" for "any week of unemployment that begins during a period between 2 successive academic years or terms," the appellate court affirmed.

The decision is a loss for Jeanine Agnes Thomas and Luann Sudbrook, who contended the section applies only to employees of individual public schools.

"[I]ndividual public schools are an extension of the respective board, not separate educational institutions," Judge James A. Kenney III wrote for the appellate panel.

The Court of Special Appeals also rejected the argument that Section 8-909 violates due process as well as the Maryland Declaration of Rights by treating public school bus drivers differently than those employed by private schools.

"The statute is rationally related to achieving its objective," Kenney wrote. "The General Assembly presumably enacted L.E. Section 8-909 to comply with the federal mandate, designed to prevent the subsidization of vacation periods for school employees."

Expected break

Thomas and Sudbrook filed unemployment claims in the summer of 2004. Both women were planning to return to work as school bus drivers during the next academic term.

Their claims were denied. That denial was upheld by a hearing examiner, the Board of Appeals of the Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation, and then the Baltimore County Circuit Court before heading to the Court of Special Appeals.

In its opinion last week, the appeals court noted that federal legislation clearly prohibits employees such as Thomas and Sudbrook from collecting unemployment benefits between academic terms, and that the state's program must comply with those standards in order to qualify for federal funding.

Thus, Kenney wrote, "the General Assembly sought to deny unemployment benefits to school employees during scheduled and anticipated holidays, vacations, and breaks between academic terms when the employee has a reasonable assurance of continued employment."

In the case of Thomas and Sudbrook, the break between academic terms "is expected and permits the employee to plan for periods in which he or she will not receive a paycheck."

The Court of Special Appeals noted that other states have reached the same conclusion.

WHAT THE COURT HELD

Case:

Jeanine Agnes Thomas and Luann Sudbrook v. Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation and Board of Education of Baltimore County, CA No. 1475, Sept. Term 2005. Reported. Opinion by Kenney, J. Filed Sept. 21, 2006.

Issue:

Did the lower court err in holding that Baltimore County public school bus drivers were not eligible to receive unemployment benefits between academic terms?

Holding:

No; affirmed. Bus drivers, who are employed by the Baltimore County Board of Education, are employees of an educational institution under the relevant statute.

Counsel:

Jack L. B. Gohn for appellants; Margaret-Ann F. Howie and Gina Serra for appellee.

RecordFax #6-0921-01 (25 pages)