DIMANCHE

A judge ruled yesterday that the mass firing of thousands of teachers and employees of Orleans Parish schools in the wake of the Federal Flood was illegal. Civil District Court Judge Ethel Simms Julien handed out damages as high as $480,000 to seven employees in the class action suit. More than 8,500 employees under the purview of the Orleans Parish School Board were put on "disaster leave without pay" in 2006 as the Recovery School District increased its reach in New Orleans. Julien called that designation "fictitious."

A state law passed in 2005 cleared the way for the Recovery School District to assume control of most of the Orleans Parish School Board. In the process, the legislation also wiped out teacher protections, as well as the employees' union. Julien ruled that firing the teachers and other employees without severance was an overreach.

“Today’s ruling makes it clear that these firings were wrongful and illegal," United Teachers of New Orleans president Larry Carter said in a statement. "Now we must get on with the business of implementing the court’s decision.”

The judge only awarded damages to the seven employees who were party to the suit, but thousands more could be eligible now that ruling has come down. The total amount damages awareded to the seven employees who were party to the suit was $1.3 million. The ruling states that the money must come from the state, the Department of Education and the Orleans Parish School Board.

Though the ruling does not impact operations of New Orleans' current education system as run by the RSD and, to a lesser extent the OPSB, it leaves huge questions about who will pay have to pay. The ruling opens the way for thousands more former employees to be eligible for awards. Appeals are expected to the state Court of Appeals and perhaps the Louisiana Supreme Court.

Read the full ruling here.