Special needs teacher fired over fundraising efforts sues city

[AGXStarseed]

(Not written by me)

Eileen Pfluger

When it comes to the Department of Education, raising money for disabled students can get you fired faster than manhandling them.

A Staten Island teacher claims she was abruptly canned last year after organizing a successful fund-raising campaign for her kids.

Hoping to teach home skills to her severely autistic students at PS 721R in New Dorp, special-education teacher Eileen Pfluger announced a GoFundMe effort on Facebook to raise money for kitchen appliances.

The high school is part of the Department of Education’s District 75 program that caters to significantly challenged students.

“These are severely autistic kids,” Pfluger told The Post. “They need the necessary skills to function in society. Their parents won’t live forever and they may be excluded from great programs if they can’t cook for themselves or clean up for themselves. So it’s a big deal.”

Despite earning strong evaluations, Pfluger, a probationary teacher, was fired because administrators objected to her use of a student photo on the fund-raising Web page.

Pfluger is suing the city to have her record expunged so she can teach again.

Citing the pending legal case, the DOE declined to comment.


Source: https://nypost.com/2018/01/09/special-needs-teacher-fired-over-fundraising-efforts-sues-city/

 

[Gritches]

How did I know this was in the US before I clicked the link?

 

[Judge]

When it comes to the Department of Education, raising money for disabled students can get you fired faster than manhandling them.

A Staten Island teacher claims she was abruptly canned last year after organizing a successful fund-raising campaign for her kids.

Despite earning strong evaluations, Pfluger, a probationary teacher, was fired because administrators objected to her use of a student photo on the fund-raising Web page.

This appears as a classic case of why certain occupations have probationary provisions for new employees.

And that if they violate such contractual provisions, they can indeed be terminated under law. Where good intentions aren't necessarily enough in the event they violated New York's Department of Education's "Internet Acceptable Use and Safety Policy" provisions. Provisions which appear to explicitly require employees to seek formal administrative permission to post such things online.

Worse perhaps from a perspective of legal liability in the event the teacher also failed to formally secure the permission of the parents of the student's photo to use online.

I'm guessing that the teacher's union representatives felt compelled to litigate such a termination. Though whether they can overturn it or merely "expunge her record" through a civil court is anyone's guess IMO. New York is also an "employ-at-will" state and that it's likely that such a violation of specific policy likely serves as "cause" to terminate most any probationary employee.

Even having the best of intentions cannot necessarily insulate you from legal liability. At times sad, but true.

Internet Acceptable Use and Safety Policy (IAUSP) - Internet Acceptable Use - New York City Department of Education