Education

Boston Teachers Union sues district over accommodations during pandemic

The lawsuit argues that the district didn't provide "reasonable accommodations" for some workers.

February 9, 2022

1 minute to read

The Boston Teachers Union is suing Boston Public Schools in federal court for denying what they call “reasonable accommodations” during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the lawsuit, the union, which represents roughly 10,000 teachers and other school staff within the Boston district, says that “many” of the requests for accommodations came when staff were asked to return to school for in-person learning.

The group alleges that some of the requests “went ignored for months at a time” by the district’s Office of Equity. The lawsuit also says that some workers were told they had to work without any attempts to accommodate or discussing the request. Others, the lawsuit says, were discouraged from asking for accommodations, or “received conflicting information.” Some requests were just denied outright.

The lawsuit lists a variety of examples without giving the names of the employees. One alleged incident involved a teacher who had a high-risk pregnancy and asked to work from home. The request was ignored for a time “and was even discouraged” by the district, the suit says. The employee took unpaid leave from April to May 2021. She returned to work on June 1, 2021, only to be rushed to the hospital by ambulance on June 9, 2021, according to the lawsuit.

Another alleged incident involved a paraprofessional, 57, who requested remote work during October 2020 over “severe asthma.” The request was pending for four months and then denied, the lawsuit says. The employee then made another request for accommodation; that, too, was denied, the suit says.

A third alleged example involved a paraprofessional, 58, who requested remote work in January 2021 because of diabetes and hypertension. The employee heard back three days before the return to in-person learning was planned; her request was also denied, according to the lawsuit. The employee then got COVID-19, the suit says, and was out for a month. She returned to work in May 2021 after she was fully vaccinated.

“Through this effort, the Boston Teachers Union is taking action to ensure Boston Public Schools fully respect and adhere to the rights of educators with disabilities.” the BTU said in a statement to Boston.com.

The district declined comment citing pending litigation.