 |
 |
Date: Wed, 23 Jan 2002 14:04:56 -0500 > >Teacher wins discrimination case in Baltimore > >Teacher gains $55,000 settlement; > City schools scolded for rescinding offer because of guide dog > > BY: Gail Gibson > >The Baltimore Sun > January 3, 2002 > >Graduating with an education degree in the spring of 1998, in >the midst of widespread teacher shortages, Janet C. Mushington >hardly had trouble finding a job. Turning down one offer in >Atlanta, she took another in her hometown, at Baltimore's >Westside Elementary. Weeks before the school year started, >though, city school officials changed their minds, court records >show. The school principal said Mushington, who is blind, could >have the job - but only if she left her guide dog, Parke, at >home. The rescinded offer will cost the city schools $55,000, >which the system has agreed to pay Mushington to settle a Justice >Department lawsuit charging violations of the Americans with >Disabilities Act. In a settlement order signed Monday by a >federal judge in Baltimore, the schools also agreed to adopt new >policies to ensure compliance with the decade-old civil rights >law. Under the agreement, school officials denied any >discrimination. But for Mushington, now 27 and an elementary >school teacher in Baltimore County, the settlement was an >important victory. In an interview yesterday, Mushington said >that until she lost the Westside job offer because of her guide >dog, she had always believed she could overcome her disability >with hard work. "In my mind, I always told myself that as long as >I did my best and did what I was supposed to do, I would >triumph," said Mushington, who lives in Pikesville. "So when this >happened, it was more than just I was turned down for a job - it >was like my whole world had come crashing down." Yesterday, >school officials referred questions about the case to attorney >Brian Williams, who was out of town and unavailable to comment. > > >Under the settlement order signed by U.S. District Judge William >M. Nickerson, the schools agreed to designate a coordinator for >disability employment issues and to require all employees who >make hiring decisions to undergo training about disability >issues. The city schools also agreed to post notices in every >school building about the 1990 anti-discrimination law, which >requires public and private employers to make reasonable >accommodations for employees with physical disabilities, such as >permitting an employee to use a guide dog. "The Americans with >Disabilities Act is intended to open the doors of employment >opportunity to people with disabilities," Ralph F. Boyd Jr., the >assistant U.S. attorney general for civil rights, said in a >statement. "When an employer refuses access by a person with a >service animal, it closes the door on that opportunity." > > >Mushington received a bachelor's degree in education from Clark >Atlanta University in Georgia in June 1998. She said yesterday >that she was initially interested in staying in Atlanta after >graduation, and had received a job offer at an elementary school >there, when her mother talked her into returning to Baltimore to >live near her family. Mushington said she agreed to move home in >part because she felt she had proved her independence by leaving >Maryland to attend college, working her way through school >despite her blindness and, during her junior year, a broken leg >that left her using a wheelchair for several months. That effort >made the loss of the job offer in Baltimore all the more painful, >she said. "It was like, wait a minute," Mushington said. "I went >through all this, and I'm still not going to be able to get a >job?" Mushington said she interviewed twice at Westside >Elementary during the summer of 1998, each time using a cane to >help her navigate. She said it was only when she mentioned that >she would be using a guide dog during the school year that >officials balked, saying a "no animal" policy prohibited her from >bringing a dog to the school. "The bottom line was, if I wanted >the job in that school, I would not be able to have the dog," she >said. Mushington was not breaking new ground. A small number of >blind teachers across Maryland take their guide dogs into the >classroom, where the teachers manage their classrooms with help >from students, classroom aides and Braille texts, according to >the National Federation of the Blind and the National Association >of Blind Educators. When city school officials said they could >not accommodate Mushington's service animal, she filed a >complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. EEOC >investigators referred the case to the Justice Department's civil >rights division. While her case progressed, Mushington went to >work. Substitute teaching jobs and a student helper position in >the Baltimore County schools led to a full-time position teaching >second- and third-graders at Chatsworth School in Reisterstown, >where guide dog Parke joins Mushington every day. "It's >wonderful," Mushington said. "She comes in, and she goes to >sleep. She stays under the desk and sleeps until I tell her to >come out and go somewhere." > _________________________________________________________________ MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos: http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx ________________End of message______________________ Archives and tools for the Disability-Research Discussion List are now located at: www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/disability-research.html You can JOIN or LEAVE the list from this web page.