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Teacher Files Disability Dicrimination Lawsuit against NY School District

<p>After being fired from her job after 23 years of service, an upstate New York school librarian has filed a $2M lawsuit disability discrimination lawsuit against the Liberty School District in Sullivan County.</p>

 

<p>Ann Page worked as a school librarian since 1981 but left her job in 2004 when she claimed her health was compromised by Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS). She said her health condition resulted from mold infestation which stemmed from a leaky ceiling, according to a story in New York Teacher (NYT), the membership newspaper of the New York State United Teachers (NYSUT).</p>

<p>Page filed for workers compensation when she left her job but it wasn’t until April 2007 - after winning an appeal - that she was given income from the 2005-06 school year. Further appeals have held up Page's wages from June 2006 to December 2007, when she was fired.</p>

<h2>Victim Offered to Work as an “Outource Resource”</h2>

<p>"That a school or a business can make someone ill and then fire someone for being ill is just outrageous," the plaintiff said. "There's no penalty. There's no accountability."</p>

<p>Page still wanted to work - just not at the school library. She offered to work from home or another location as a media specialist. That plan included tutoring by computer, grant-writing, video-conferencing, podcasting, lesson-plan writing, customized classroom Web pages and online book talks. "I was a resource person, not a babysitter," she told NYT. "I can still perform the same services I did before as a virtual librarian."</p>

<p>"The district's actions are unjust, immoral and indefensible," said NYSUT President Dick Iannuzzi. Ann Harrison, regional staff director for NYSUT's mid-Hudson office, said medical evidence suggests Page's problems are attributable to her job inside the library. "The district had an obligation to work with Ann, not against her, in first addressing her medical issues and second in arranging an alternate work schedule and location," Harrison said of Page, photographed on the NYSUT web site holding a gas mask she wore at work.</p>

<p>The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health gave Liberty school buildings a negative health assessment. Page’s doctors said being exposed to petrochemical byproducts and synthetic fragrances such as perfume, scented shampoos and scented laundry products would worsen her condition, the NYT story said.</p>

<p>Page passed out on one occasion after picking up a book covered with mold. Her condition worsened over time, manifesting in dizziness, weakness and influenza symptoms. Eventually, Page was unable to breathe or speak normally.</p>

<p>"It's very common for schools to be damp, leaky or moldy," said Susan Brinchman, founder and director of the national, not-for-profit Center for School Mold Help. "No homeowner would set up buckets for decades to routinely collect water."</p>

<p>Until her lawsuit is settled, Page hopes to receive a weekly $400 workers compensation check. But so far, that’s been delayed by legal appeals.</p>

<p>NYSUT's Donahue said employees who have health and safety concerns should contact their labor relations specialist to access the situation.</p>

 

 

 

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