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Is there any kind of case here?

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Naiderie

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Nebraska

In August 2014 I began working at a local public school as an Assistant Cook. 2 weeks after I was hired, administration asked me if I knew of anyone looking for a Para (teacher's aide) job. I expressed interest in the position but was not offered the job. No big deal, I continued to do my Assistant Cook job with enthusiasm. As the school year went on administration asked me to go from part time to full time and to take on the breakfast/lunch billing duties. Proving that administration not only trusted me with confidential information, but they were satisfied with my work performance.

Over the next 2 school years I expressed interest in every Para position that came available, only to be passed over for the job. Last spring before the 2015-2016 school year ended the staff was made aware of an administration change. At this time I had 4 seperate conversation with the new administrator about my desire to obtain a Para position.

When the 2016-2017 school year began 2 weeks ago, I was granted a semi-promotion from full time cook to part time cook and part time para, while keeping my billing duties. Things seemed to be going smoothly, when administration came to me and informed me that they had hired a new Para and she would be taking over my afternoon Para duties as well as my billing duties effectively cutting my hours from 8-9 hours a day down to 5-6. And I was to be back to just cooking duties. When I asked why I was not put into the full time Para position, I was told that it is easier to find someone willing to work as a Para than it is to find someone to work as a cook.

During the 2 previous years I had developed shoulder pain as well as a neuroma in my foot. When I explained to administration that being in the kitchen all the time again was likely to aggrevate my pain even more and if that is where they wanted to keep me, I didn't think I could continue to work for them. We set a date to be my last day. The next day I messaged the administrator that I had a change of heart and could not bear to leave my job and asked to withdrawl my verbal resignation. The Administrator told me we would discuss it on Monday.

Today, (Monday) I was invited into his office with the superintedent of the school where I was informed that due to my health concerns, they would not be willing to have me in the kitchen any longer and that they had talked to someone about filling my position already, making it obvious to me that it is not so hard to find someone to work in the kitchen. They did ask me to finish out my notice making me wonder why they are not worried about my health concerns for the next two weeks but anything longer than that is unacceptable.

A few side notes, the full time Para was needed to work with a couple of new students who are non-verbal and possibly autistic. I am the mother of 2 children who are diagnosed with autism and my youngest was non verbal until the age of 3. The person hired for the Para position is the future daughter-in-law of a teacher who to my knowledge has no experience with autistic and/or non-verbal children. I have had no negative reports or complaints on my job performance and have always been told by administration that I am a good worker and very much appreciated. Because of my childrens autism it is impossible for me to work outside of the school system as they will not tollerate a day care situation.
 


Chyvan

Member
During the 2 previous years I had developed shoulder pain as well as a neuroma in my foot. When I explained to administration that being in the kitchen all the time again was likely to aggrevate my pain even more and if that is where they wanted to keep me, I didn't think I could continue to work for them. We set a date to be my last day. The next day I messaged the administrator that I had a change of heart and could not bear to leave my job and asked to withdrawl my verbal resignation.
You might have a valid medical quit in here to get UI or they changed your job sufficiently enough to warrant UI. If you are successful at getting UI, and your employer has a clue (they rarely do), they just might put things back the way they were to save themselves the cost of a UI claim.

Because of my childrens autism it is impossible for me to work outside of the school system as they will not tollerate a day care situation.
Don't tell this to the UI people when you apply.
 
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cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
If you are asking whether you have any kind of legal case here against the school district, the answer is no, you don't.
 

commentator

Senior Member
It sounds as though you talked your way out of a job here, and frankly, I don't think your chances of being approved for unemployment insurance are great, either, although you should always apply when leaving a job this way. If you are going to file for unemployment benefits after quitting if you maintain it was for health reasons, you need to be able to show that you are fully released by your doctor to do other work when you apply for unemployment benefits.

But it was a voluntary quit, you were not terminated, and from what I see, your job didn't change appreciably, they just removed a few hours of doing what you wanted to be doing, and you responded. You tried to solve the problem by telling them about previously unmentioned health problems that are being made worse by your work duties as a demand to change your work duties. This, unfortunately may have made you sound like a potential liability to them, as in they might have heard that as "I'm mad at you guys and so you'd better watch out. I have these health issues, and who knows? I'm apt to get an on the job injury if you don't give me the aide position!"

School systems are direct reimbursing employers, which means they only pay in unemployment taxes when an individual is actually approved for benefits, and pay penny for penny what the person draws. You can rest assured they will have a clue and will fight diligently against paying unemployment benefits as it will appear as a line item expense in their school system budget. They don't like worker's compensation claims, either.

They might be willing to reinstate you to the lunchroom job, but with your having brought up the health issues, I wouldn't count on it. That they gave the aide job to the daughter in law of one of the teachers isn't surprising, isn't illegal. That they did so after you had let them know how interested you were in the position is disappointing and perhaps unfair, but not illegal. And your alternative is to leave and find another job, which you had chosen to do, until you tried to rescind the quit. However, now they have lost confidence in you.

But no, there is no case here for suing the school district. For some reason of their own, which is THEIR choice to make, they preferred to have you in the lunchroom. Perhaps you were just too close to the situation in the classroom, since, as you say, you are the mother of two of the children who have special needs in their system. Perhaps you were simply good at what they needed you to do and did not want to let you change jobs for that reason. An employer has the right to decide what jobs an employee does or does not do, regardless of what the employee wants to do or requests to do. It's called "in the best interests of the business."

Perhaps you can work out some way to return to school and obtain more training that will enable you to change into the field of teaching or being an assistant to a teacher in this field. It sounds as though you have a sincere interest in this field and getting away from the lunchroom in this one school system may be the beginning of something new and better.
 
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Naiderie

Junior Member
You tried to solve the problem by telling them about previously unmentioned health problems that are being made worse by your work duties as a demand to change your work duties. This, unfortunately may have made you sound like a potential liability to them, as in they might have heard that as "I'm mad at you guys and so you'd better watch out. I have these health issues, and who knows? I'm apt to get an on the job injury if you don't give me the aide position!"
My shoulder injury was a known issue, as I turned in a doctor's note in my first year that restricted my lifting for a period of 2 weeks because of a seperated AC joint. They allowed me to continue to work for another year and a half after being aware of my injury.
 

CourtClerk

Senior Member
My shoulder injury was a known issue, as I turned in a doctor's note in my first year that restricted my lifting for a period of 2 weeks because of a seperated AC joint. They allowed me to continue to work for another year and a half after being aware of my injury.
So your doctor's note was date specific? If so, it's no longer valid...
 

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