Christian School fires teacher because her son is gay - "You need to fix him."

[Crazedclerkthe2nd]

http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2012/0...s-her-gay-son/

Because this is a totally loving thing to do...

[bainsidhe]

Interesting how the school is claiming they're protected because of their religious beliefs regarding homosexuality, yet the lawsuit has nothing to do with any gay rights/discrimination. Nope, the teacher is suing because she was discriminated against based on her disability. Still waiting for the school to come out and say they have the religious freedom to discriminate against the disabled too. Especially if the disability stems from a hostile work environment.

[crashhelmet]

So many questions and concerns with this story.

Both sides say that her contract wasn't renewed. If her contract had expired, they had no obligation to offer her a new one. It would be one thing if her contract was terminated, but again, both sides used the word "renewed."

There's mention of offering a 1 year sabbatical, which she turned down, and that she ended up failing to meet their attendance requirements. Did her occasional days off turn into more often than not?

[s_stabeler]

what happened is she requested a leave of absense of unspecified length for medical reasons, and that she would need future medical leaves of absence (basically, she was having mental health issues, which could recur, and an accommodation requested was that if the issues got that bad again, she could take another leave of absence)

the school tried to force her to take a year off 'to give her time to heal'- this was the leave of absence refused by the teacher

the school refused to rehire her for the next year following this issue, which is what the basis of the suit is. essentially, she's claiming that if she didn't have the disability, she would have been rehired.

[crashhelmet]

what happened is she requested a leave of absense of unspecified length for medical reasons, and that she would need future medical leaves of absence (basically, she was having mental health issues, which could recur, and an accommodation requested was that if the issues got that bad again, she could take another leave of absence)

the school tried to force her to take a year off 'to give her time to heal'- this was the leave of absence refused by the teacher

the school refused to rehire her for the next year following this issue, which is what the basis of the suit is. essentially, she's claiming that if she didn't have the disability, she would have been rehired.

But the school is saying that they would not have rehired her because of her difference in opinion on homosexuality. So regardless of the disability, she wouldn't have been back.

[fireheart17]

what happened is she requested a leave of absense of unspecified length for medical reasons, and that she would need future medical leaves of absence (basically, she was having mental health issues, which could recur, and an accommodation requested was that if the issues got that bad again, she could take another leave of absence)

the school tried to force her to take a year off 'to give her time to heal'- this was the leave of absence refused by the teacher

Now I dunno about you, but that's screaming "red flags".

From her being given "time to heal", it sounds as though they're expecting all of her mental health issues to go away by the end of the year in order to be rehired. It doesn't work like that and I wish people would wake up to that fact. Also, the accomodation wasn't entirely unreasonable-yes I know that substitute teachers are hard to come by, but if she's giving notice that she'll need short periods to work through the issues, then there's plenty of time to find someone who does short-term contracts.

[Andara Bledin]

This case is going to turn on the definition of "reasonable accommodations."

The teacher was unwilling to take a school year away from work (the place that was the cause of the mental issues she now suffers), nor was she willing to work part time, which both parties state was offered.

So it will need to be determined whether the "reasonable accommodations" were actually reasonable or if they would have been an unreasonable burden against the school and the students she would have been teaching.

I suspect that the way the teacher requested her intermittent leave during the 2009/2010 school year will be one of the hinges for the case. The teacher says that they had no problem with providing her with medical leave during that year while the school claims that she never requested medical leave, specifically, and just asked for leave.

Without additional information, I cannot make a decision either way.

The headlines make for great rage porn, but the truth of the matter lies on the facts of whether or not the teacher's need for an indeterminate amount of medical leave throughout the school year would be an unreasonable burden upon the school. Also, according to the EEOC, offering part time employment actually constitutes a possible reasonable accommodation. Plus, the disability does not waive the requirement that a worker meet a set production standard, and excessive absences by a teacher would absolutely result in a reduced production standard, as such can be measured.

The whole "gay son" angle is nothing more than background and has no bearing on the case itself. It's a distraction.

^-.-^

[s_stabeler]

Now I dunno about you, but that's screaming "red flags".

From her being given "time to heal", it sounds as though they're expecting all of her mental health issues to go away by the end of the year in order to be rehired. It doesn't work like that and I wish people would wake up to that fact. Also, the accomodation wasn't entirely unreasonable-yes I know that substitute teachers are hard to come by, but if she's giving notice that she'll need short periods to work through the issues, then there's plenty of time to find someone who does short-term contracts.

that was my point, actually.

And Andara, I agree with you. ( I will point out though that her working part-time may not actually help. Considering her mental health issues were apparently exacerbated by comments from the administration (implied: everyone) about her son. Working part-time probably wouldn't help that.

As Andara said, it would probably hinge on the reasonableness of the intermittent leave- which requires more detail, specifically what the rules would be for how she could take said leave (I.E. does it require a couple weeks notice? proof her doctor has advised the leave? How frequently can she take said leave?)