Potential School Dismissal

[rskjackson]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Missouri

My wife is a para-professional (teachers aid) in a school district. She has had that job for several years and has always been outstanding in her job. She also suffers from mild seizures on rare occasions (spaces out for 30 seconds or less). She has had a couple of recent episodes at school in the last couple of weeks, after having nothing for a few months. She is on medication and we are trying to figure out if she nees to up that. She was called in to the office and questioned about these seizures and the tone of the talk made her believe that her job could be in jeopardy. I'm just trying to find out if the school has a right to terminate her due to that, or if she has legal rights as possible disability. She has always been a top level employee.

 

[swalsh411]

Too many variables to give you a concrete answer.

In general:

-Employer has a right to ensure employee can do the job with reasonable accomodation
-Employee must be able to do the job with reasonable accomodation or can be legally terminated
-Schools have an obligation to ensure safety of students and staff. Asking questions doesn't mean they are going to terminate her.

 

[sandyclaus]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Missouri

My wife is a para-professional (teachers aid) in a school district. She has had that job for several years and has always been outstanding in her job. She also suffers from mild seizures on rare occasions (spaces out for 30 seconds or less). She has had a couple of recent episodes at school in the last couple of weeks, after having nothing for a few months. She is on medication and we are trying to figure out if she nees to up that. She was called in to the office and questioned about these seizures and the tone of the talk made her believe that her job could be in jeopardy. I'm just trying to find out if the school has a right to terminate her due to that, or if she has legal rights as possible disability. She has always been a top level employee.

Too many variables to give you a concrete answer.

In general:

-Employer has a right to ensure employee can do the job with reasonable accomodation
-Employee must be able to do the job with reasonable accomodation or can be legally terminated
-Schools have an obligation to ensure safety of students and staff. Asking questions doesn't mean they are going to terminate her.

Agreed.

It's quite possible that the school is simply assessing her ability to continue performing her job competently and safely under the circumstances.

Has your wife been upfront about her condition with school administrators? Or has she kept the situation to herself hoping that she could manage it on her own without anyone having yo know about it? Since there don't appear to be any current requests from your wife to accommodate her condition, one might assume the latter applies. If so, it's entirely possible that the teachers, other coworkers, children, or even parents noticed the problem and brought it to the attention of the administration out of a concern for foe the safety of the children in her care, and they were forced to breach then issue with your wife.

My suggestion? Be as open as she can with those who have the power to terminate her. Have your wife address her concerns with her doctor to come up with some reasonable accommodations to assist her in performing her job as soon as possible. If the school is made fully aware of the situation, and your wife is proactive about ensuring quality job performance through accommodations, then the school will be less likely to terminate her for an unrelated cause in order to hide an illegal bias against her current disability.

 

[rskjackson]

Agreed.

It's quite possible that the school is simply assessing her ability to continue performing her job competently and safely under the circumstances.

Has your wife been upfront about her condition with school administrators? Or has she kept the situation to herself hoping that she could manage it on her own without anyone having yo know about it? Since there don't appear to be any current requests from your wife to accommodate her condition, one might assume the latter applies. If so, it's entirely possible that the teachers, other coworkers, children, or even parents noticed the problem and brought it to the attention of the administration out of a concern for foe the safety of the children in her care, and they were forced to breach then issue with your wife.

My suggestion? Be as open as she can with those who have the power to terminate her. Have your wife address her concerns with her doctor to come up with some reasonable accommodations to assist her in performing her job as soon as possible. If the school is made fully aware of the situation, and your wife is proactive about ensuring quality job performance through accommodations, then the school will be less likely to terminate her for an unrelated cause in order to hide an illegal bias against her current disability.

Some teachers know of her condition and are aware of what to look for. I've also encouraged her to be up front with all of the staff. We have informed her doctor of the latest incidents as well.

 

[rskjackson]

Update to my thread...my wife was put on paid administrative leave yesterday (5/6) after the school lawyer was consulted by the school nurse. They want to get clarification from my wife's doctor on her condition and what is being done to control. All teachers were made aware of her condition. She's obviously upset about this latest move, but more concerned if this is a move to not offering her the job back next year? The medication that she was on was from a different manufacturer in the last script, but that has been reversed and the other manufacturer medication is now being used. There was mix up at the pharmacy. They believe this led to her episode several days ago.
I guess my question is if the school were to decide not to hire her back...is there a disability issue here?

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

They can choose to not renew her contract, unless there is a CBA to the contrary.

 

[rskjackson]

They can choose to not renew her contract, unless there is a CBA to the contrary.

There is not a CBA in this case...we realize that they can choose not to renew her contract. My earlier question was as they put her on paid administrative leave until they can visit with her doctor, is there a disability issue or case if they don't renew her contract? As she has been a model employee for several years, we're just a bit frustrated with this. We have a friend who is a lawyer, and has told us not to sign any papers until we relay the information to him. We are suppose to meet with the school attorney today for her to sign a paper that is to give the school permission to talk with her doctor, which I will look over with her. Not expecting it to be anything more than that, but we are just trying to safe.

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

In order for them to be discriminating, they would not be paying her. They are paying her, they simply reassigned her to an easier position while they investigate the situation.