The Pennsylvania Superior Court has reinstated two wrongful termination cases brought by teachers alleging they were fired because they planned to report suspected child abuse or neglect to a state agency.
A unanimous three-judge panel of the court ruled Tuesday in a precedential decision that the teachers’ claims cleared the high hurdle for bringing wrongful termination claims in Pennsylvania, which is an at-will state. Specifically, Judge Mary Jane Bowes, who wrote the opinion in Krolczyk v. Goddard Systems, said allowing the school to fire teachers who intended to report child abuse would go against public policy concerns.
