[nobe-l] UPDATE from Nicole! Re: need advice

[NMPBRAT at aol.com]

Hi All, 
So, I’ve been off the grid for a  little while now but I wanted to jump in 
and give an update on my situation, for  those who are interested.     
Just to refresh everyone’s memory, I  was the one who had posted looking 
for advice regarding an employment  discrimination situation.  I’m the  
special ed. teacher working in a public school system who had been denied  
reasonable accommodations, even despite filing an internal complaint with the  
district and coming to a written agreement.  To read my complete post, see below 
this  message.   
So, here’s the update!   The attorney I had been working  with again 
contacted the district’s attorney and shared my concerns about the  last incident 
in which they did not follow the agreement.  Needless to say, even their 
attorney was  shocked and was going to speak to them about it.  I gave them to 
the end of June to  respond but not to my surprise (I know how they act), 
they didn’t.   So, on June 30th, I  filed a formal charge of discrimination 
with EEOC.  It was not an easy decision…but I felt  like they left me no other 
choice.   It was overwhelming and empowering all at the same time.   It is 
my understanding through the  attorney I have been working with that they 
were informed quickly about the  complaint and the finger pointing has begun…
but they have made no attempt yet at  resolving anything.   My  current task 
is now securing legal representation.  Although I have been using the union’
s  attorney, she is unsure about taking the case moving forward because of 
concerns  of a conflict of interest and also concerns that she may have 
developed a bias  due to our close working relationship.  This is somewhat 
disappointing but yet understandable.  However, it leaves me with the task of  
finding an appropriate attorney moving forward….which I find to be somewhat  
stressful, hoping that I am able to make the right choice.    
I certainly appreciated everyone  sharing their thoughts, advice, 
experiences, etc. the first time, so I will  throw this out to everyone again……I am 
open to any and all suggestions,  thoughts, advice, etc. on any and all 
parts of the EEOC process including  mediation as well as finding and securing 
appropriate and successful legal  representation or any other legal resources 
available in dealing with a  situation such as this.   I appreciate  
everyone's thoughts and insights. 
Thank  you all for your support! 
Nicole  Poston
 
 
In a message dated 5/23/2014 10:59:55 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
nobe-l at nfbnet.org writes:


Hi,  
I am not one to put messages on the  list very often and when I do,  it is 
typically responding to someone else’s  message.    
I am looking for some advice from  others though…to get an idea of  what 
others might do in my situation.  I apologize for the  length.      
Just some quick background  information  first.  I am legally  blind.   I 
am 
finishing my   12th year of teaching in an inner city public school system 
as a   special education teacher.  I have  taught in the same school  
district 
for my entire career.  They hired me knowing that I was  legally  blind and 
might need a couple reasonable  accommodations.  For 10 years or so, the 
district’s   administration was very helpful and very willing to provide 
any  
reasonable  accommodations to me I requested.   I certainly  wasn’t pushy 
and only 
asked for things that were  essential.   They were always more  than 
willing 
to comply with my requests and  never questioned anything.   Even during 
those 10 years, I  had  several different principals, 2 different Special 
Education  directors, and a  couple different Superintendents that I worked 
 under.  
For the most part, with the  exception of one principal  that caused 
problems for everyone, I had no issues  with any  administration and any 
requests I 
made.  The one issue I did have  with the  principal, the Superintendent at 
the time quickly corrected  the issue.    
In the last couple years, we have  acquired a  new Superintendent, a new 
Special Education director, and new   principals.   The response I  have 
received from the  current administration has been very different.   
At the  beginning of December of last  year, I made a request for a  
reasonable accommodation to my principals.   They ignored my  request.  I 
again asked 
a couple more times,  getting more  specific and more direct each time…
.while still being professional   and respectful.  I was still  ignored.  
Then at 
the  beginning of  January, I contacted the Superintendent in an attempt to 
 
resolve the issue,  which had worked the one other time I had had  issues 
with 
a  principal.  The Superintendent also ignored  my  attempt to contact him 
and never responded.  After  discussing it with our union’s  attorney (who 
also happens to  practice disability law), it was decided that I  would 
file an  
internal ADA complaint within the district.   I filed the  complaint and 
chose to  have our union’s attorney act as my  representation.   The 
district 
contacted their  attorney  who then contacted my attorney.   After some 
discussion and  despite  my anger, I agreed to mediate the issue without 
the district  
having to go  through the investigation process first.    Although I was 
angry because I felt  that the district’s actions were  totally out of line 
and 
unnecessary, I was not  going into this with  an attitude of “I’m out to 
get 
them”.   I just wanted to  continue to be  treated in the same manner I had 
been for 10 years  and be provided reasonable  accommodations when I 
requested them,  nothing more.   We held a meeting where it was  myself, my 
 attorney, 
the district’s attorney, and administration.   We came  to a written and 
signed  agreement between the district and myself as  to the reasonable 
accommodations  that I needed and the district was  willing to provide.   I 
thought 
with the signed  agreement  and my dismissal of the complaint, that we’d 
all 
be able to move on   and I’d get what I needed.  The  agreement was 
supposed 
to be  distributed to all administrators that I work with  or under so that 
 
they were aware of the agreement and its contents.   About 2  weeks later, 
I 
was  speaking to one of the administrators and I  mentioned the agreement…
.and 
they  seemed to be unaware of the  agreement or its contents.  This 
concerned 
me.  I asked a couple  other administrators  and received the same 
response. 
So  I  called my attorney and told her my concerns.  I said “How can I  
expect these people to  follow an agreement that they don’t even seem  to 
be 
aware of?  I mean, that doesn’t seem very fair to   them.”   She then 
contacted 
the  district’s attorney and we  ended up on a three-way conference call.   
I 
explained my  concerns.  She did have documentation that all the   
administration had been informed of it but stated that she would make  
contact  again 
with the Superintendent’s office and tell them that  they needed to check  
again with their administrators to ensure they  were well aware of the 
agreement 
and expectations.  Again, I  wasn’t  out to “get them”…I was simply just 
trying to prevent another  issue.   This was like 2 months ago.   
So, now comes  today.  I was at a district level professional  development  
meeting in which I was to be provided a reasonable accommodation   that 
would 
allow me gain the information I needed and fully participate in  the  
professional development.  Mind you,  this  professional development is 
information 
and training on our new state  level  teacher evaluation system….which in 
turn, directly correlates  to my evaluation  and ultimately, my job.   So,  
yes,  
it is extremely important stuff.  The accommodation I was to be  provided 
today was on the signed agreement  we made months ago.   The two  
administrators who ran the professional development were  both people who 
were  provided 
the information….one of which was  ironically, the Special Education  
director.   Despite  the  agreement, I was not provided the accommodation.  
 I had  to 
go through the training  without it.   Needless to  say,  I am angry and 
frustrated.   I  had 10 great  years with no issues.   I’ve tried very hard 
to 
work with the  current administration and have  tried to be understanding 
and  
forgiving.   I’ve given them chances to make  things right  and do the 
right 
thing.   They just don’t seem to care!!!   
So, my question is……..what avenue  would you do next?   Would you try  and 
mediate yet again, even though they are obviously  refusing to follow the  
agreement that is already made?    Would you file a complaint outside the 
district?   What  direction would you take from  here?   What suggestions 
do  you  
have? 
Any thoughts are  appreciated! 
Thanks  in  advance,  
Nicole
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