UArts Faces Unfair Labor Practices Complaint from Shuttered School’s Union

A union representing faculty and staff members at the University of the Arts has filed an unfair labor practices complaint against the Philadelphia art school, which abruptly shuttered earlier this summer.

The complaint, filed with the National Labor Relations Board, alleges that the school declined to “furnish information” following attempts the negotiate severance pay and other matters in the wake of the school’s closure this past June. News of the complaint was first reported by Artnet News on Thursday.

A representative for UArts did not immediately respond to ARTnews’s request for comment.

This complaint comes as UArts faces another pending legal action: a class action lawsuit from nine employees who allege that the school broke the law by failing to provide 60 days’ notice, as is required for mass closures or layoffs of more than 100 people. The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office and state officials have also said they are investigating the school.

Prior to its closure on June 7, UArts held a reputation as one of the nation’s most high-profile art schools. It had opened 148 years ago, and its list of alumni included Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller, Jonathan Lyndon Chase, Alex Da Corte, and Deborah Willis.

Just before the school announced its permanent closure, it lost accreditation with the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. On June 2, five days before it permanently shuttered, the school said that it saw “ultimately identify a viable path for the institution to remain open and in the service of its mission.”