Rocky Mountain Academy of Evergreen

2959 Royale Elk Way Evergreen, CO 80439 (303) 670-1070

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 18, 2012 Contact: Kelli Anderson, Board Treasurer Rocky Mtn. Academy of Evergreen (303) 670-1070

Rocky Mountain Academy of Evergreen Responds to ACLU CO Lawsuit Charter School Target of ACLU Haste to Make Statement Regarding Nursing Mothers Act
DENVER The Rocky Mountain Academy of Evergreen, the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado and the national ACLU agreed Friday to settle a legal claim that alleged that Rocky Mountain Academy of Evergreen violated the 2008 Workplace Accommodations for Nursing Mothers Act. While the Rocky Mountain Academy of Evergreen (RMAE) and its authorizing district ultimately agreed to settle the case, the school and the district still strongly disagree with the claims filed by the ACLU in August 2011. RMAE continues to agree with the findings of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commissions (EEOC) investigation in June 2012, which stated the plaintiff had no probable cause, against the school. Its unfortunate that the ACLU chose to target the Rocky Mountain Academy of Evergreen to boast the first public settlement of a lawsuit regarding the Nursing Mothers Act. Especially in light of the fact that the plaintiffs accusations were false, and that she was accommodated by the school in terms of time and space to express breast milk in accordance with the law and with RMAEs policies and procedures around this issue, said Dan Cohen, Executive Director of Rocky Mountain Academy of Evergreen. It appears that the ACLU may have been a bit over anxious to make a statement regarding this relatively new law, and our school was the unfortunate target, Cohen continued. ACLUs statement that RMAE is currently creating new policies and procedures in response to this settlement is not accurate, as those policies were already in place and were being implemented, said Dina Walton, Director of Human Resources at RMAE. Since its inception, RMAE has had detailed policies and procedures in place to uphold all state and federal regulations to protect the rights of its personnel. This includes providing the appropriate workplace accommodations for nursing mothers, including the plaintiff in this case. The plaintiffs employment contract with RMAE was non-renewed in 2011 when her position was eliminated due to an organizational restructure, said Walton. This situation was completely unrelated to the fact that she was a nursing mother. The organizational restructure process and planning began approximately 18 months prior to the plaintiffs non-renewal notification.

Continuing to battle this lawsuit would have taken more valuable time and resources away from the students and classrooms at the Rocky Mountain Academy of Evergreen and this was not something we were willing to do, said Kelli Anderson, Board Treasurer at RMAE. We have agreed to a settlement in order to put this situation behind us and to refocus our attention on what matters most providing a highquality public education to our students. Information: Kelli Anderson, Board Treasurer, 303-670-1070.