Monday, September 28, 2015

Will WILL Stop Filing Frivolous Lawsuits Now?

By Jeff Simpson

A few months ago, righty blogger Dave Blaska, was enlisted as the patsy, by Wisconsin Law and Liberty and Scott Walker's campaign chairman Michael Grebe(whose son was the crony appointed to the UW-Madison Board of Regents).  

They filed a frivolous lawsuit against the Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) for negotiating a one year contract extension with their teachers while ACT 10 was stayed.  In an era where our Governor's only strength is dividing the state, having labor peace is a successfully negotiated contract does not sit very well with Scott.

So failed Presidential candidate Scott Walker did what he does best, sicced his minions on them.   NOT that our friends on the right ever coordinate, but everyone on the far right, showed the same giddiness at the exact same time, thinking that the Shark would really punish the MMSD for giving teachers a 0.75% wage increase after having salaries frozen for years(for those scoring at home, Esenberg as head of his "nonprofit" makes $210,000/yr and is suing teachers for negotiating an approx $382 raise).    

The Madison School Board and Metropolitan School District (“MMSD”) are forcing their teachers to abide by – and taxpayers to pay for – an illegal labor contract with terms violating Act 10 based upon unlawful collective bargaining with Madison Teachers, Inc. (“MTI”).  Today, the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (“WILL”), on behalf of David Blaska, a Madison taxpayer, filed a lawsuit in Dane County Circuit Court against the Madison School Board, MMSD, and MTI requesting a declaration that the contract is unlawful and a permanent injunction on its usage.
“The Madison School Board can choose not to utilize the Act 10 tools that would better serve their children and taxpayers, but they cannot enter into a contract containing terms prohibited by Act 10,” said Rick Esenberg, President and General Counsel of WILL.  “In every case in which Act 10 has been challenged, the courts have held that it is constitutional.  Labor contracts, such as the one between the School Board and MTI, that violate state law are invalid and unenforceable.”  

All fine and good, and it is nice to know that the Shark is at Scott Walker's beck and call.  It is however unfortunate that the children of MMSD must suffer, by having to defend this frivolous lawsuit, because Scotty Walker threw a temper tantrum.  

Luckily for all involved, the Honorable Judge Richard Niess just threw this silly lawsuit out.

  A Dane County judge dismissed a lawsuit Monday by a conservative blogger that sought to void teacher contracts in the Madison School District.Judge Richard Niess rejected the lawsuit on procedural grounds, saying blogger David Blaska did not follow the required legal steps.
Specifically, the judge said Blaska, a taxpayer in the district, failed to first serve the district with a notice of claim before filing the lawsuit, a requirement that would have given the district 120 days to respond.

Maybe now someone can serve Blaska, Esenberg, Grebe with papers asking for our taxpayer money back, we had to waste in defending this twaddle.  

How much more taxpayer money will WILL cost the fine people of WI before they stop filing frivolous lawsuits?





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