UArts faces class action lawsuit over alleged labor law violations

A dozen University of the Arts (UArts) staff members have filed a class-action lawsuit accusing the The Philadelphia School of the Arts violated federal labor protections after recently announcing it would permanently close within a week.

Filed on behalf of all of UArts' nearly 700 employees, including faculty, maintenance workers, security personnel, and union and non-union individuals directly employed by the school, the suit claims that UArts failed to follow the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Measures of 1988. Notification (WARN), which requires employers with 100 or more employees to give them at least 60 days' notice of planned closure or mass layoffs.

The complaint was filed yesterday, June 5, in federal court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, by Ryan Hancock, an attorney with the employment law firm Willig, Williams & Davison, LLP. The plaintiffs are seeking two months' pay, health coverage and vacation pay as well as damages covered by Pennsylvania's minimum wage law. The school has 21 days to respond to the file.

“Whatever we get back, it will never replace the loss that they suffered and that the arts community as a whole suffered,” Hancock said. Hyperallergic, adding that “right now we need more artists, not fewer.” He and his wife are both alumni of the 148-year-old Philadelphia School of the Arts.

In addition to filing the suit, the United Academics of Philadelphia (UAP) union also filed an unfair labor practice complaint with the National Labor Relations Board regarding the school's failure to engage in bargaining sessions regarding remuneration for work performed, severance pay and social benefits. .

“To date, faculty and staff have not yet received detailed information about their salary, employment status, or benefits,” a UAP statement said. “The cruelty surrounding this continued lack of communication from their employer remains disturbing, and the University is communicating more through the media than with its community.

UArts has not yet responded to a request for comment.

The lawsuit and unfair labor charges are just the latest developments in what has been a devastating week for the institution and its community after UArts leaders announced last Friday that the school had lost its accreditation and would close its doors in a few days. This week, the Last minute cancellation of a virtual public session meant to address community concerns was followed by the quiet resignation of President Kerry Walk, who took over as head of the school in August.

Demanding transparency and answers from UArts leaders, students and staff held several rallies on campus this week. Tomorrow at 3 p.m., UArt's last announced day of operations, community members plan to hold another protest on the steps of Hamilton Hall on campus.

Laura Frazure, one of the plaintiffs who was an assistant professor in the fine arts department at UArts, said Hyperallergic that she believes the school's demise rests on the shoulders of its board members and former president David Yager, whose term from 2016 to 2023 was largely defined by a fundraising campaign that would have raised $67 million for the school, increasing its endowment by more than $24. million dollars and funding several multi-million dollar campus infrastructure projects. In fiscal year 2023, UArts' endowment was valued at $61.2 million, Inside higher education reported.

But the sudden announcement of the school's impending closure led many in the community to question Yager's financial management of the school and the success of this fundraising campaign. Recently, Walk told Philadelphia Investigator that “an unspecified amount of gifts, grants, and other revenue the school was counting on had not materialized.”

Also a member of the UArts faculty council, Frazure said Hyperallergic that in 2021, the school's faculty deliberated on filing a vote of no confidence against Yager, but were dissuaded by board chairman Judson Aaron, a retired attorney who specialized in drug investigations. white-collar and government workers, and board secretary William Gast.

“(Yager) was destroying us financially, we felt,” Frazure said, calling the former president “authoritarian” and “belligerent.”

“Jud Aaron and Bill Gast came to the faculty council meeting and implored us not to vote for censure because it would damage the reputation of the school,” Frazure said, highlighting the current irony in the wake of the school's sudden decision. closing.

Hyperallergic has contacted Yager, Aaron and Gast for comment.

“There was gross financial negligence and mismanagement,” Frazure continued. “(Yager) should have been conservative and he wasn’t. He was a self-centered individual who searched for lines on his CV.