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Can I sue my employer for an unconstitutional act against me if I'm a public school Teacher?
Anonymous5 views2 answers
Public employees in FL were forced to "contribute" to the state ret sys during the past 9 months by unilateral decree of the State Legislature. A county court judge ruled this an unconstitutional act by the State and ordered all money returned with interest. An appeal, made by the State, was fast tracked directly to the FL Supreme Crt for a hearing starting in Sept 2012. If upheld, would this ruling open civil case possibilities to recover the damages in the form of interest I had to pay on bills, inability to invest in more stocks, or make other 401K contibutions, etc that accrued during the time that this money was not available to me (and all other FRS "contributors")? The amount rtnd would be around $1500 if case is upheld.
The legal answer is maybe. If you had some specific damages not addressed in the litigation described about and the above action was not maintained as a class action then yes conceivably you could maintain a lawsuit against the state. What would you need to determine is whether the suit identified above was a class action and if it was did you "opt out". If you did not opt out then your rights will be determined by the above referenced litigation. Second, you would need to look very closely at what you would be claiming as damages as damages cannot be speculative and pie and sky. Given that the above litigation if upheld is requiring the return of all money paid plus interest.
As already answered, maybe. The more important issue is whether $1500 is enough to warrant the expense and aggravation of pursuing litigation. Although you are probably really irritated by this situation, filng a lawsuit could be far more frustrating than any potential recovery.
