NORWICH – The Norwich City School District has been informed by its legal counsel that recent actions by the Norwich Educators Organization could be construed as a violation of the Public Employee’s Fair Employment Act, better knownm as the Taylor Law.

They have no plans, however, to pursue action against the teachers’ union at this time.

“I think it is in the best interest of the district and the NEO to reach a settlement agreement,” said Superintendent Gerard O’Sullivan, who professed his belief that pursuing allegations of improper practices would be counterproductive to that goal. “We would not gain anything toward the settlement of a contract.”

O’Sullivan read a letter from the school district’s attorney, John Lynch, at a meeting of the Norwich City School Board of Education last night. In it, Lynch outlined two instances in the past month where the NEO’s actions appear to have violated the Taylor Law, which governs collective bargaining between public employers and their employees. It was to this statute, as well as established case law, that Lynch referred.

According to Lynch, one of the alleged instances of improper practice occurred when NEO President Dr. Bruce Race distributed a document titled “Prospective Agreement of the NEO and the Norwich City School District” at the Dec. 16 meeting of the school board. Lynch described this action as a “willful misrepresentation” of negotiations, as it did not accurately portray the terms being discussed. Legal counsel advised that this provided “adequate evidence” of improper practice.

At the same meeting, Dr. Race distributed to each board member a copy of a letter to the editor which appeared in The Evening Sun. The letter, written by a Norwich teacher who was not a member of the NEO but is covered by the union’s collective bargaining agreement, stated that teachers were prepared to stop voluntary participation in activities outside of the classroom.