Just give her a gun.

Being afraid of children is a disability?

was she afraid of hot teen sex?

Yeah, it's dumb. But it's dumber for the school district to force someone to teach kids they emphatically don't want to teach. That's doing the students no favors.

I can believe its a real thing, its more a case of "If you're afraid of kids, wtf did you decide to be a teacher"? Its like me being afraid of heights, and deciding to make a career as a window washer, or tall crane operator. I mean W....T...F?

My disability is fear of working.

Fortunately, I have tenure so it's not an issue.

I'm a nurse. If I suddenly develop a phobia of blood, does the hospital I work at still owe me a job? I don't get this. You're a teacher. If you can't be around children, then find another job...or a good shrink. I'm sorry for her "disability" but I don't see how a school district should have to accommodate this.

Krieghund: Hey, she was a high school teacher for 35 years. If pedophobia is a real thing, I can see how it wouldn't bother her in a high school environment.

That said, I would do just about anything...include lie about a disability...to not have to teach junior high.

I am sure fear of feet is a real thing, but I think what she claims to have would be paedophobia.

Well there is one school of thought that says kid's brains are not developed enough yet to hold them fully responsible for their misdeeds. Then there is Florida.

Personally, I think the whole "lost innocence" thing is a bunch of crap. I mean, people act like it's so bad to go around having sex with kids because it damages them for life. But the reality is as soon as the clock ticks on their 18th birthday they become walking pedophile suspects who should have their DNA put in a nationwide database.

And if you have a daughter you undoubtedly know teenage boys are the most vile and evil shiat walking the face of the earth.

/suspicious turtleneck

What is she hiding?!

holy cow, it's Pat.

The problem for this school district is that they accommodated the disability and thus legitimized it. If they thought the disability was BS they needed to fight that on the front end, not the back end (no pun intended).

So legally, she has a disability and the school district can't argue otherwise. They failed to accommodate that disability. This seems an easy case to me, though I'm sure the school lawyers will work hard to make it difficult.

The suit claims the discrimination is based on her age and her disability, a rare phobia called pedophobia



Hey guys! Why are you running!? Come back!

worlddan: The problem for this school district is that they accommodated the disability and thus legitimized it. If they thought the disability was BS they needed to fight that on the front end, not the back end (no pun intended).

So legally, she has a disability and the school district can't argue otherwise. They failed to accommodate that disability. This seems an easy case to me, though I'm sure the school lawyers will work hard to make it difficult.

I think ADA only requires the employer to make "reasonable" accommodations and doesn't protect you if your disability makes it unreasonably difficult for you to do your job.
/not a lawyer, etc. etc.

xria: Krieghund: Hey, she was a high school teacher for 35 years. If pedophobia is a real thing, I can see how it wouldn't bother her in a high school environment.

That said, I would do just about anything...include lie about a disability...to not have to teach junior high.

I am sure fear of feet is a real thing, but I think what she claims to have would be paedophobia.

Paedophobia would be the proper English spelling. The Americanized English spelling is properly "pedophobia". As a sufferer of the condition myself, I am familiar with the term.

/Not a teacher.

I think she might have a winnable case (note winnable not necessarily worthy).

RTFA she talked to parents about the French classes she taught being phased out at the high school level and was later transfered to Jr High. If the the system had knowledge of her phobia this could be seen as retaliatory punishment, especially if there was no offer to move her to a spanish teaching job at the high school level first.

Beyond that I can also see age discrimination being a factor. 35 year career with high pay, get rid off her so we can reduce pay and eliminate someone getting ready to collect reitrement (pressure was applied to my gov worker father to get him to quit to avoid paying retirement)

fusillade762: two years can make a difference in the phobia. My wife has a fear of spiders. Other side of a piece of glass is not only okay but cool to watch, crawling next to her on the sofa is a freak out.

Liliac_Hill: Yes they would under ADA. They would have to move you to a position where the possibility of seeing blood would be minimal, such as a phys therapy wing.

fusillade762: The students she would be teaching at the Jr High level are going to be 2 years younger, max. That really makes that much difference?

You must've magically skip those years of your life.

Persnickety:
I think ADA only requires the employer to make "reasonable" accommodations and doesn't protect you if your disability makes it unreasonably difficult for you to do your job.


Correct. But they can't argue that it's "unreasonable" when they have been accommodating it all these years. That's the basis of the notion of estoppel.

Gig103: I don't believe it's an actual disability, but I can relate completely. I wouldn't want to teach anything lower than a college level course (i.e. only teach adults, and people who are choosing to be in the class). Kids are a pain in the butt.

You've clearly never taught in college if you think the people enrolled there are, in fact, "adults."

arasmin: I think she might have a winnable case (note winnable not necessarily worthy).

RTFA she talked to parents about the French classes she taught being phased out at the high school level and was later transfered to Jr High. If the the system had knowledge of her phobia this could be seen as retaliatory punishment, especially if there was no offer to move her to a spanish teaching job at the high school level first.

Beyond that I can also see age discrimination being a factor. 35 year career with high pay, get rid off her so we can reduce pay and eliminate someone getting ready to collect reitrement (pressure was applied to my gov worker father to get him to quit to avoid paying retirement)

fusillade762: two years can make a difference in the phobia. My wife has a fear of spiders. Other side of a piece of glass is not only okay but cool to watch, crawling next to her on the sofa is a freak out.

Liliac_Hill: Yes they would under ADA. They would have to move you to a position where the possibility of seeing blood would be minimal, such as a phys therapy wing.

I disagree that she can win this. They were phasing out her job, which I doubt retaliation had anything to do with it (and the judge dismissed the claims supporting that, so they can't use it, anyway). And they moved her to a similar situation with 7th and 8th graders (not exactly young kids). What's the difference between an 8th grader and a 9th grader? I think it was a reasonable accommodation. They could have laid her off without even trying to give her another job...most teachers are dealing with that reality right now. But they attempted to give her another job, and one that was not very different (ie: they could have put her in elementary school, and that WOULD have been suspicious). She needs to suck it up and try to find a teaching job in college or as a tutor. If you have a fear of dogs, you probably shouldn't become a vet.

"Documents filed in the case by her medical doctor, psychiatrists and psychologists note that she experiences stress, anxiety, chest pains, vomiting, nightmares and higher than healthy blood pressure when she's around young children."


Interestingly I have exactly the same problem but I didn't become a  FARKING SCHOOL TEACHER!

first thing needed here is to have this teacher define a young child in regards to what sets off her phobia. then get an independent evaluation of the woman to establish she really has the phobia. if everything shows she is on the up and up she has a case if not she loses.

Can relate

bborchar:
I disagree that she can win this..... What's the difference between an 8th grader and a 9th grader? I think it was a reasonable accommodation. They could have laid her off without even trying to give her another job...

There are several problems here but they all center around the fact that she been employed with the SD for a number of years, so one can't view the employment decision in isolation. When an employer accommodates an employee one way and then changes that accommodation to something else the employer always says they have a non-discriminatory reason for doing that and juries have a nasty habit of seeing through that nonsense and finding for the plaintiff anyway.

The second issue is are you a professional psychologist with a specialty in phobias? Because while I don't know the difference between an 8th and a 9th grader I'm sure her psychologist is going to go into court and explain exactly and specifically how it is an unreasonable accommodation. The jury has every right to credit that testimony, too.
So yes, this is a winnable case. Whether she will win is a question that the jury will decide. Not you and me.

Chinchillazilla: Yeah, it's dumb. But it's dumber for the school district to force someone to teach kids they emphatically don't want to teach. That's doing the students no favors.

75% of all teachers I had, emphatically did not want to teach me.

bborchar:

I disagree that she can win this. They were phasing out her job, which I doubt retaliation had anything to do with it (and the judge dismissed the claims supporting that, so they can't use it, anyway). And they moved her to a similar situation with 7th and 8th graders (not exactly young kids). What's the difference between an 8th grader and a 9th grader? I think it was a reasonable accommodation. They could have laid her off without even trying to give her another job...most teachers are dealing with that reality right now. But they attempted to give her another job, and one that was not very different (ie: they could have put her in elementary school, and that WOULD have been suspicious). She needs to suck it up and try to find a teaching job in college or as a tutor. If you have a fear of dogs, you probably shouldn't become a vet.


Actually, they were phasing out only French, and could have accomodated by moving her to a Spanish teaching job which still exist. Granted they probably would have had to move another teacher to Jr. High to do that but that would have been required under ADA. Also, "not very different" is irrelevent under ADA if the "different" impacts due to the disability.

WRT the difference between high and jr high student, for her phobia it could make all the difference. Look at my note about my wife and her spider fear.

If this makes it to trial the school system will possibly have to "suck it up" and admit they farked up. Even if it doesn't, the local employment commision office might have the authority to tell the school system to suck it up and give he a high school job.

Old enough to know better: I can believe its a real thing, its more a case of "If you're afraid of kids, wtf did you decide to be a teacher"? Its like me being afraid of heights, and deciding to make a career as a window washer, or tall crane operator. I mean W....T...F?

This was the question that popped into my head... and yet, I bet some damned judge will give her the money.

Judging from the pic she's also afraid of showing her neck. Though the schools sure are picky nowadays: They don't like it when you're a pedophobe, but if you are a pedophile they find a hair in the soup, too.

Interesting angle. Suing for discrimination due to a disability which precludes one from the profession.

1) Teacher who is afraid of kids : disability = fear of kids.
2) Chubby underwear model : disability = inability to maintain elfin weight.
3) Professional athlete with slow reflexes : disability = reflexes too slow.
4) Secretary who can't type : disability = inability to type.
5) Porn star with humble shlong : disability = insufficient endowment.

The pinnacle of legal achievement here would be to win a suit for someone who was not already in the business, and get a payment commensurate with the salaries of those in the field.

Krieghund: Hey, she was a high school teacher for 35 years. If pedophobia is a real thing, I can see how it wouldn't bother her in a high school environment.

That said, I would do just about anything...include lie about a disability...to not have to teach junior high.

Came here to say this.

/ worst age group in a human lifespan, IMHO.

/ getting a "Total Recall" vibe here...

Forbidden Doughnut: [s7.postimage.org image 300x449]

/ getting a "Total Recall" vibe here...

TWO WEEKS.

Yugoboy: Middle schoolers are the worst non-Nazi human beings ever.

Yep. The behavioral filters and social conditioning that (most) older teenagers and adults have is still being formed in the 11-14 set...

/ I tip my hat to those teachers who can do well in that enviroment

Wow that picture could have been cropped way better.

JungleBoogie: Interesting angle. Suing for discrimination due to a disability which precludes one from the profession.

2) Chubby underwear model : disability = inability to maintain elfin weight.




DO WANT.

fusillade762: Krieghund: Hey, she was a high school teacher for 35 years. If pedophobia is a real thing, I can see how it wouldn't bother her in a high school environment.

I thought that was kinda weird, too. The students she would be teaching at the Jr High level are going to be 2 years younger, max. That really makes that much difference?

What it is, is she doesn't want to teach middle school. Pedophobia is a real thing--I had a friend who was deathly afraid of midgets, which sounds funny except we worked at Disneyland, and I saw her literally have a panic attack when she saw one of our characters who was played by a midget. We thought she was kidding at first, until we saw how white she was and the fact she was nearly in shock.

But teaching a 14-year old 8th grader and a 14-year old 9th grader is exactly the same thing. If this teacher just came out and said, "Look, I don't want to be trapped in a school full of hormonal monsters" I suspect everyone would totally understand; although she might lose her job. But at least don't insult our intelligence and people with genuine disabilities by pretending a middle-schooler is a tiny child.

Gyrfalcon: fusillade762: Krieghund: Hey, she was a high school teacher for 35 years. If pedophobia is a real thing, I can see how it wouldn't bother her in a high school environment.

I thought that was kinda weird, too. The students she would be teaching at the Jr High level are going to be 2 years younger, max. That really makes that much difference?

What it is, is she doesn't want to teach middle school. Pedophobia is a real thing--I had a friend who was deathly afraid of midgets, which sounds funny except we worked at Disneyland, and I saw her literally have a panic attack when she saw one of our characters who was played by a midget. We thought she was kidding at first, until we saw how white she was and the fact she was nearly in shock.

But teaching a 14-year old 8th grader and a 14-year old 9th grader is exactly the same thing. If this teacher just came out and said, "Look, I don't want to be trapped in a school full of hormonal monsters" I suspect everyone would totally understand; although she might lose her job. But at least don't insult our intelligence and people with genuine disabilities by pretending a middle-schooler is a tiny child.


I have a fear of random people. I'm most comfortable with children and elderly and rarely get anxiety attacks. I am usually okay in general settings where I don't have to deal extensively with anyone.I can still work because I work helping the elderly and rarely have to deal with more than one person or younger people. Cannot work a lot of other jobs, though, which leaves me stuck.