RI Teacher Files Federal Lawsuit — Alleges He Was Fired for Refusing to Pay Union Dues

RI Teacher Files Federal Lawsuit — Alleges He Was Fired for Refusing to Pay Union Dues

A former West Warwick teacher has filed a lawsuit in federal court, alleging that his contract was not renewed because he refused to pay teachers’ union dues — in violation of his First and Fourteenth Amendment rights. 

John Lancellotta — represented by attorney Joseph Larissa— filed the suit on December 30 in U.S. District Court against the West Warwick School Department, the Superintendent, and the entire West Warwick School Committee, in their official capacities. 

 

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About Suit 

Lancellotta, who taught Spanish and Italian language arts in West Warwick during the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 school years, says in the lawsuit that he had received overwhelmingly positive teacher evaluations — and provides the documentation of his reviews. 

In February of 2019, Lancellotta said he met with West Warwick Teachers Alliance union president Sean Doyle, who represented his collective bargaining unit, because Lancellotta did not want to pay the union because he said it “took positions on political and social matters which did not match his own opinions.”

Lancellotta said he received the following response.

 

“Plaintiff considered this February 11 email to be a threat where it stated that no non-union employee had ever been ‘carried’ by the school district,” according to the lawsuit. 

According to the lawsuit, Lancellotta met with Doyle and his department head, John Giovanelli, later that month. 

“At this meeting it was resolved that Plaintiff would not leave the union, but would be allowed to divert a portion of his dues payments to a fund for student scholarships,” according to the lawsuit. 

Lancellotta said he continued to receive glowing reviews at his next evaluation in November of 2019, which he provided as an exhibit in the lawsuit. 

It was when he formally resigned from the union on December 9, 2019 — and ceased to make payments — that Lancellotta said his department head the following week recommended to the Director of Secondary Schools that his contract not be renewed, “effectively firing him and denying him tenure,” according to the lawsuit. 

The School Committee in February of 2020 voted not to renew Lancellotta’s contract, and his appeals, he said, were then delayed due to COVID — until December of 2021. 

 

“The Schools’ proffered explanation for non-renewing Plaintiff's contract was a pretext,” according to the lawsuit. “The real reason Plaintiff’s contract was not renewed was because he ceased payment to the union.”

Lancellotta is suing on two counts — retaliation for exercising First Amendment Rights and placing unconstitutional conditions on employment — and is seeking monetary damages for lost damages and “any other damages he can show.”

In addition to retaining Larissa, Lancellotta has also retained Patrick Wright and Derk Wilcox with the Michigan-based Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a nonprofit research and educational institute that “advances the principles of free markets and limited government.”

“Through our research and education programs, we challenge government overreach and advocate for free-market approaches to public policy that free people to realize their potential and their dreams,” according to the Center, which has taken on unions on a range of issues including "right-to-work" laws.

West Warwick Superintendent Karen Tarasevich and School Committee Chair Luis Colon did not respond to request for comment.