A former vocational technology teacher in the Keokuk School District says he was forced to resign because of "intolerable working conditions."
The school board accepted Scott Schneider's resignation Monday evening, roughly 36 hours later he filed a lawsuit against the district.
Schneider had been with the district for 20 years. This year, he was splitting his time between Keokuk and the Harmony School District in nearby Van Buren County per a sharing agreement between the districts.
The lawsuit claims, "From the beginning of the 2014-2015 school year until Sept. 15, 2014, the (district) deliberately made (Schneider's) working conditions so intolerable that (he) was forced into an involuntary resignation."
Schneider said the district chose him for this assignment because of his participation in union activities. He has been directly involved in contract negotiations on behalf of the Keokuk Education Association.
According to the lawsuit, "The actions of the (district) in terminating the employment of (Schneider) because of his union activities is an act of the (district) terminating the (Schneider) for a reason contrary to a well-established public policy.")
Schneider said he was not reimbursed for his travel to the Harmony School District. He said he was also denied paid breaks during the day because of his excessive travel time.
"(Schneider) is entitled to unpaid wages for the time that he spent working through his break every day as well as unpaid wages for the expenses of his mileage to Harmony School District each day," according to the lawsuit.
Schneider is also seeking past, present and future lost wages and attorney fees. He requested a jury trial.
