Colleagues,
Last Friday, October 17, 2025, we filed a lawsuit in the Monroe County Supreme Court against the Rochester City School District. We are seeking an immediate injunction on the long festering payroll issues that continue to result in either no pay, delayed pay, inaccurate pay, wrongful deductions, and other payroll related errors. The petition also includes details of the negative impact of these ongoing issues from members themselves who, in addition to me, have agreed to serve as plaintiffs in this lawsuit on behalf of hundreds of our affected members. We are grateful to our state-level union, New York State United Teachers (NYSUT), for providing the support and legal expertise in preparing and filing this case.
The litigation that we have filed is in addition to our outreach to the United States Department of Labor, the New York State Comptroller, and the Class Action Grievances that we filed against the District for violations of our contract. We are also engaged in Impact Bargaining with the District seeking interest and reimbursement for damages caused by lack of payment, delayed pay, incorrect deductions, and other harm caused by the payroll debacle.
From the beginning, we have worked to resolve these issues in a united front with our sister unions representing paraprofessionals, non-teaching employees, and school administrators. They, too, are exploring filing litigation against the District. We are all in close collaboration on dealing with the District and planning joint collective actions – such as the October 30 Speaking Out to the Board of Education (see flyer). We are asking those still adversely affected by the wrongful payroll to tell their story and for all others to attend to support them.
We are well into the fourth month of the RCSD’s inability to pay employees on time and correctly. Still, they show no indication of either the capability to fix Oracle or a willingness to switch payroll to a competent vendor. And still, all RCSD employees remain uncertain that their next paycheck will be correct and on time. That is why, refusing to accept this as the new normal, we remain determined to end this fiasco. Together.
Adam Urbanski, RTA President