Olney Charter teachers try to become a union and they say they were bullied in return.

Olney Charter High School teachers and guidance counselors filed a suit to become unionized and later claimed they were threatened by higher-up administrators because of it.

After being handed over by the Philadelphia School District to the ASPIRA Inc. of Pennsylvania in 2011, the high school became a charter school with contract-based teachers. In April 2013, teachers filed a suit to become a union. The teachers teamed up with the American Federation of Teachers against Olney Charter and ASPIRA for their fight for union representation.

The teachers and guidance counselors stated improving the process of dealing with complaints against them, communication structures with administration and professional development as their reasoning for creating a union. The Philadelphia Daily News reported on Aug. 8, 2013 that the National Labor Relations Board filed a complaint that teachers had been threatened with “hardball” by principal Jose Leborn and assistant principals Bridget Bujak and Lisette Agosto Cintron. The trial is scheduled to begin on Oct. 15.