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Woman Can Sue School District for Not Accommodating Disorder

This is nuts. 

A federal appeals court has restored a lawsuit filed by a Wisconsin teacher who claims her district failed to accommodate her seasonal affective disorder by providing her a classroom with natural light.

First-grade teacher Renae Ekstrand sued the Somerset School District, claiming the district’s refusal to place her in a new classroom violated the Americans with Disabilities Act.

She had worked for the district since 2000 but, after requesting an assignment change from kindergarten, she was placed in a new classroom without exterior windows at the start of the 2005-‘06 school year. Her reaction appears to have been severe, despite other attempts by the district to remedy the issue.

“By late September 2005 and through the time she began her medical leave on October 17, 2005, Ekstrand suffered from significant inability to concentrate, organize her thoughts, retrieve words, make decisions, and focus on the needs of her students. She also experienced hypersomnia, racing thoughts, panic attacks, uncontrollable crying, inability to eat, and thoughts of suicide,” 7th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge William J. Bauer wrote for the judicial panel.

Ekstrand never returned to work at the Somerset district after her medical leave.

Given her symptoms, would you want her teaching your 1st grader at all?

Posted by Owen at 1711 hrs
Law

1. No, and I question the idea that someone with that severe a reaction to lack of natural light would do well in this clime. Usually folks like this need to have special lights in their home and the winters would mean that she would not be able to work regardless of an outside window. They would have to rewire and relight her whole workspace and she would have to do the same to her house. The concept of seasonal affective disorder means that northern climes do not have adequate sunlight for her to survive in fall and winter and so the outside window would not mean anything. She is fishing for a big score and it appears that she sound a judge to help her.

   Posted by fishaddict on October 16, 2009 at 2240 hrs
   
   
   

2. I’m not going to wade too far into this - unlike fishaddict, who clearly has an extensive background in clinical psychology that allows him to speak so conclusively about SADD, I don’t know enough about her disability to speak to how serious it was or what accommodations are/are not appropriate.  All this ruling does is grant her the right to have her case heard.

   What is interesting from reading the opinion is that the school district had two readily available options to accommodate the plaintiff - one vacant classroom and another first-grade teacher who was willing to switch rooms - and the district chose to exercise neither of those options, options that could have been exercised without any undue hardship.

   Considering that her psychologist says that her symptoms are related to the lack of natural light, I’m not sure there would have been any concerns at all about her suitability for teaching first grade provided she was accommodated.  After all, she taught successfully for five years in the same school prior to being moved into a classroom without windows.  Presumably if she was as unfit as our host suggests, there would be a stack of complaints from parents and some bad reviews from administrators in her personnel file.

   Posted by Recess Supervisor on October 17, 2009 at 0110 hrs
   
   
   

3. I too will have to bow to Fishaddict’s many years of clinical practice when discussing the possible treatment for this teacher.  But I have a question for Owen.

   Where do you draw the line on accomodation?  You apparently feel that any manifestation of mental disorder is grounds for firing.  How much lower have you drawn the bar in your own mind?

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on October 17, 2009 at 0719 hrs
   
   
   

4. The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) was enacted to protect citizens against discrimination based upon “physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity” and to grant those citizens the same protection under law as those protected by the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  In addition, these same citizens as EMPLOYEES are protected by the ADA for chronic diseases such arthritis, asthma, COPD, Cancer, Diabetes, Lupus, depression etc., and employers are required by law to make a “REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION” in the workplace for such individuals if there is medical certification of that employee’s condition.

   First, you have a teacher that was out on medical leave, so it would appear that she met the standard for a medical condition.  Secondly, there was an opportunity for the school to give her a classroom with an exterior window, a reasonable accommodation (teachers constantly switch classrooms, often in the middle of a school year) and the school did not accommodate her.  (Of course “reasonable” is subject to interpretation, so rewiring an entire school with special lighting for her condition probably would not meet the standard of a “reasonable accommodation”). 

   This ruling merely restores the status of her lawsuit so that it can be heard.  However, based upon what little has been told in the story, I think someone in the school district and the court that first heard her case screwed up.  In addition to liability awards, violations of the ADA are also accompanied by fines.  The “fitness” of the teacher to teach children in a classroom is for others to decide.

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on October 17, 2009 at 0801 hrs
   
   
   

5. Nutty things like this help demonstrate why public education is so much more expensive than parochial education.  If you folks get your way and parents receive vouchers to take their tax money to parochial and other private schools, these mandates will shortly follow.  Right now a private school can “duck” the $35,000 per year handicapped student who basically qualifies for daycare for 13 years (K-5 through high school).  Those days will end when the money follows the kid.

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on October 18, 2009 at 0802 hrs
   
   
   

6. RO, why do you think this is a “nutty thing”?  The American With Disabilities Act applies to all aspects of society and access to public buildings, not just schools.  The employment aspect of the ADA applies to ALL business, both private and public sector, as well.

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on October 18, 2009 at 1805 hrs
   
   
   

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