Discrimination Attorney in New Jersey, New Jersey
Can you tell us about a memorable disability discrimination case you handled?
Can you tell us about a memorable disability discrimination case you handled?
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so the most memorable disability
discrimination case that I handled was
one that I handled somewhat recently It
involved a public school teacher She was
immuno compromised and the employer not
only refused to accommodate her um
immuno condition but the employer made
things worse So the teacher was teaching
at a an elementary school level and was
doing well and had been successful by
all accounts And the
employer said “We’re going to move you
from this grade to a much a grade with
much younger students.” And anybody who
has kids or spent any time around young
children don’t little kids aren’t great
with hygiene they sort of like you know
wipe their nose and touch you or they’ll
they’ll go hugging people all the time
and particularly sometimes with teachers
because they look to them for comfort
And so she asked not to be moved to the
younger grade and the school refused and
she had brought in multiple notes from
doctors and the school just refused to
accommodate her even though it was a
really big school district So they and
she had all these different
certifications So they could have put
her in high school classes they could
have put her in other classes and they
had available open positions And
ultimately because of the school’s
failure to accommodate her um she
developed a secondary uh and much more
uh significant condition that actually
could be
deadly and had to take a disability
retirement because she just couldn’t
take the risk her doctors wouldn’t clear
her to return to work anymore And
ultimately we had a really we got a
really good um settlement in that case
that she was very happy with and that
probably changed her life a bit Um but
more
importantly you know that she was
vindicated that she was entitled to
these accommodations and the school
district just wasn’t getting giving them
to her And ultimately hope that the
school district really learned a lesson
Morristown, NJ employment law attorney Claudia Reis talks about a memorable disability discrimination case she handled.
