[Ohio-talk] UPDATE from Nicole! Re: looking for advice
NMPBRAT at aol.com
NMPBRAT at aol.com
Wed Jul 16 18:03:35 UTC 2014
Hi T.J.,
I appreciate your suggestion about DRO. I have actually already contacted
them but unfortunately, they stated that due to limited funding, they are
not providing any direct services for situations like mine at this time.
They offered to send me information about my rights...and I told them that
was fine...but I pretty much already know that part already.
Thank you for your suggestion though!
Nicole
In a message dated 7/16/2014 10:02:10 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
tmeloy at fuse.net writes:
Hi Nicole,
My name is T.J. Meloy. I am new to the list, and only scanned your prior
post. My advice would be that you contact disability rights Ohio. They have
staff attorneys that work on cases such as these. Seems like it would be
right up their alley. Feel free to write me off list if you have additional
questions or concerns. I hope this is helpful to you.
Best,
T.J.
> On Jul 16, 2014, at 1:34 AM, Nicole Poston via Ohio-talk
<ohio-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>
>
>
> 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 11:09:16 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
> ohio-talk 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 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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