SPECIAL EDition — Winter 2002
Legal News
Fired Special Education Teacher Sues and Wins
The case was in Oregon, not Texas, but the impact should be nationwide. The plaintiff, Dr. Pamella Settlegoode, was hired as an adaptive P.E. teacher in Portland in 1998. She found the services and programs available to her students to be inequitable to those offered for students without disabilities. Some of her specific allegations included that:
- students without disabilities had P.E. five days a week; most of her special education students only had adaptive P.E. one day a week;
- many of the students with disabilities were bussed to a different school for weight training;
- students with disabilities were not allowed to participate in many of the sports open to students without disabilities; facilities such as the tennis courts were not physically accessible; and
- students with disabilities were not getting all of the services in their IEPs.
She wrote letters until ordered by her supervisor to stop. Eighteen weeks after she began teaching, she was fired. She sued the district under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, as well as the First Amendment to the Constitution for violating her civil rights and for retaliation against her for her advocacy for the students.
After an 8-day trial, a unanimous jury awarded her one million dollars and ordered the defendants to pay $50,000 in punitive damages. After the verdict, the foreman of the jury was quoted as saying, "The big issue was the handicapped kids...That's what the Rehabilitation Act is all about. We wanted to send them a message that they are not invincible."
Much has been written about this case. Some of the most comprehensive information is available from wrightslaw.com, which also has links to the original complaint filed by Settlegoode, as well as the pleadings. This information can be found at: www.wrightslaw.com/info/retaliate.settlegoode.htm.
SPECIAL EDition, Winter 2002
- TEA Special Education Rules Out for Public Comment Winter 2002
- National News Winter 2002
- State News
- Legal News Winter 2002
- Questions We're Asked
- New Guidlines for Treatment of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Winter 2002
- Preparing for the IEP Meeting Winter 2002
- Portrait of Michael IEP Meeting Winter 2002
- Conferences and Announcements Winter 2002
- What's On the Web Winter 2002
- Subscription Order Winter 2002