Spring 2005

Jury awards teacher $450,000 in "perceived as" disabled case

Jury awards teacher $450,000 in “perceived as” disabled case
A jury in New Haven, Conn., awarded a high school teacher $450,000 for being transferred to a lower-paid position because he was perceived as disabled. The case is Howell v. Board of Education.

D. Clark Howell became a high school mathematics teacher at the Hyde Leadership School in 1966. He was diagnosed with Type II diabetes and depression. He said that in early 2000 he felt extremely fatigued and confided in his assistant principal that he was being treated with medication for depression.

He claimed that his principal, after learning about his depression, began calling him to his office to discuss his “bizarre behavior” and a “pattern of irresponsible activity” he had displayed.

Howell was transferred to another school in the district. In response to his complaints district administrators said that he was transferred because of “a number of incidents involving students.” However, they also said he was a “fine teacher” who would benefit from being in a new environment with a “clean slate.” Howell then sued under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The district, New Haven Board of Education, said through its lawyer, Audrey Kramer, that the verdict was surprising since the teacher still works for the district and it did not believe he was unable to do his job due to any perceived disability.

Mr. Howell’s attorney, John R. Williams, said that the teacher’s behavior wasn’t questioned until he volunteered information about his diabetes and depression. His behavior was not described as “bizarre” by his supervisor until afterward.

The city has appealed the case to the U.S. District Court.

An earlier court decision, Statler v. Board of Cooperative Educational Services of Rockland County (a New York State case) resembles this case in that a school custodian with cerebral palsy charged that his treatment by his employer, transfer to an undesirable building and denial of overtime opportunities, was due to his disability or perceived disability. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York found that he had been discriminated against on the basis of his disability.

(“National Disability Law Reporter,” Dec. 23, 2004)