Taking COVID-19 Plans to Court – Inside Higher Ed
North Carolina public university employees hope a lawsuit will make their governing board take seriously their coronavirus concerns.
The University of North Carolina System and its campuses are facing a potential class-action lawsuit from students, faculty and staff members over plans to reopen dorms and hold some classes face-to-face.
In many cases, students already have returned to campus and started their coursework. The lawsuit, filed in a Wake County, North Carolina, court, also serves as a motion for a temporary restraining order against the university for failing to do all it can to protect employees from COVID-19.
The filing follows vocal faculty opposition to the system’s stance on reopening. Some Chapel Hill campus professors even wrote an open letter to students, telling them to stay home this fall. Students, too, have held “die-ins.” Staff members and other employees continue to share concerns about their own safety, such as whether housekeepers tasked with maintaining quarantine dorms will be given face shields and other enhanced personal protective equipment.