Employment- Arbitrator finds unfair labor practices by school

Arbitration award

Injuries alleged: Lost wages and benefits, as well as interference, restraint and coercion in the exercise of employee’s rights resulting from school division’s refusal to hire applicant based on union activity

Name of case: Mary “Maggie” Hansford v. Prince William County School Board and Prince William County Public Schools

Case no.: ULP Charge No. 2025-01

Tried before: Arbitration

Name of arbitrator: Rosemary Pye

Date resolved: March 5, 2026

Attorneys for plaintiff: Roya Vasseghi and Toby Latham, Fairfax, Vasseghi Law Group

Case description: The case involves the former president of the Prince William
Education Association, a local affiliate of the Virginia Education Association. After years of conflict between their respective boards, VEA took over PWEA in 2025. Prince William County Public Schools, the second-largest school division in Virginia, allegedly relied on local news coverage of the internal labor union strife as the sole basis for not hiring the former PWEA president after she applied to serve as a speech-language pathologist and substitute teacher.

In a 70-plus-page decision and order, the arbitrator explained that public sector employers cannot consider an applicant’s union activity in making employment decisions. The arbitrator also explained that public sector employers cannot tell employees or applicants that an employment decision was based on their union activity, as such statements interfere with, restrain and coerce employees in the exercise of their rights guaranteed under local collective bargaining ordinances and resolutions adopted by some Virginia
localities.

The arbitrator found that the refusal to hire the former PWEA president based on allegations about how the local union operated was not sufficient to establish an “honest belief” that misconduct was attributed to the former local president. Also, the arbitrator noted that the former union president established at the hearing that she had, in fact, not engaged in misconduct.

The arbitrator ordered the school division to cease and desist engaging in unfair labor practices, to offer the charging party employment, and to make the applicant whole for lost wages due to the refusal to hire. Additionally, the arbitrator ordered the school division to remove references to the refusal to hire from the applicant’s file, to reimburse the applicant for attorneys’ fees and costs and the arbitrator’s fee and to post notices to employees.