Teacher Fired For Reporting IDEA Violations Can Sue

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Teacher Fired For Reporting IDEA Violations Can Sue, Court Rules

By Diament

November 3, 2009

A California educator who says she was fired for speaking out about the limited

services provided to her special education students can sue for retaliation, an

appeals court has ruled.

Barker was a resource specialist in Riverside, Calif. in 2005 when she

raised red flags about the limited services provided to students with

disabilities in the school district. She made a complaint with the U.S.

Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights and says her superiors in the

school district promptly began intimidating her.

Barker says her colleagues stopped communicating by phone and e-mail, excluded

her from staff meetings, limited her responsibilities and changed her work

location. As a result, she alleged in a lawsuit against the school district that

she was " constructively terminated " in August 2006 because her employer

" subjected her to an intolerable work environment. "

A lower court said that Barker lacked standing to sue because she does not have

a disability and was claiming retaliation for advocating on behalf of her

students under section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with

Disabilities Act.

On appeal, however, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit said

otherwise, asserting that educators do have the right to claim retaliation if

they are acting on behalf of their students.

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