Third incident at school involving child's treatment
After confronting a teacher at her son’s school and allegedly threatening to “bust” her up, a teaching assistant was fired.
Tammy Crawford had worked as an educational program assistant for the Halifax Regional School Board since 2012. But on Nov. 2, 2015, she was terminated for being too raucous in advocating for her son, who suffered from both attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).
Crawford’s performance was rated as good to very good, according to the employer. But it was her actions as a parent that got her into trouble.
On Oct. 27, she drove her son to Beechville Lakeside Timberlea Senior Elementary School, just outside of Halifax. Because she arrived after 8:05 a.m. that morning, the school had placed pylons blocking access to the parking lot. It was a regular occurrence meant to protect children who would play near the lot before going into the school at 8:30 a.m.
Carolyn Champagne, a teacher at Beechville, was on yard duty that day. Her job was to prevent any parents from entering the parking lot.
She testified that on that day, Crawford drove through the pylons and parked her car. Caretaker Bob Thistle and Champagne unsuccessfully tried to stop her.
They told Crawford that she couldn’t park there, but Crawford got out of the car with her son and a microwave that she said she was delivering for her son to heat up his own lunches.
Crawford then went directly to Lisa Banks, a learning centre teacher, who worked directly with her son. Crawford was angry that the previous day her son had been sent to a time-out room alone, after he became agitated.
According to an individual assessment plan (IAP), Crawford’s son was not supposed to be sent to time-out rooms. Banks testified that Crawford said to her, “I’m feeling like I want to bust you up... I’m feeling like I will lose it.”
Nothing further came of the interaction after more students and teachers filed into the school.
After an investigation, Crawford was barred from the school property for six months beginning on Nov. 6.
On Oct. 27, a meeting was held between Crawford and Charelle Maillet, the school boards co-ordinator of human resources, and Paula Hadley, human resources manager. Crawford apologized for her actions at Beechville and said she did not threaten Banks that morning.
She said that she also suffered from ADHD and OCD and was receiving regular treatment, which explained her actions.
A letter was presented to her that said, “If you have thorough and complete medical explanation to explain why you denied all of the allegations and why you acted as you did on Oct. 27, 2015, the board is willing to review that information.”
Crawford’s doctor sent a letter confirming the diagnoses, but the board rejected them and said via an email sent Nov. 17 that the letter did not “provide explanation to support Crawford’s actions nor her explanations in the investigation meeting.”
Since it was the third time she had been cited as causing a disturbance at her son’s school, Crawford was terminated.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), Local 5047, grieved the decision and argued Crawford’s actions were not job-related.
Arbitrator Augustus Richardson upheld the grievance and ordered a suspension be substituted for termination.
“While it is apparent that (Crawford) needed a reminder of her duty to act in an appropriate manner that was sharper than a one-day unpaid suspension, a leap to termination strikes me as an unnecessarily harsh progression in discipline,” said Richardson.
“(Crawford’s) questioning of her son’s teacher was fully explained and justified by her role as a parent and her understanding as to what had happened the day before,” said Richardson.
But it was a misunderstanding that led to the overly strong response from the school board, said Richardson.
“Banks’ written statement made a few hours after the incident was that (Crawford) ‘Told me that she was feeling like she wanted to ‘bust me up’:’ ,” said Richardson.
"That is not quite the same as — nor as bad as — what Maillet thought had been said, which was ‘I’m going to bust you up.’ The difference is subtle but important, since it converts a statement of feeling into a statement of intent. ”
Reference: Halifax Regional School Board and Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), Local 5047. Augustus Richardson — arbitrator. Ian Pickard, Leah Kutcher for the employer. Karen MacKenzie for the employee. Nov. 20, 2017. 2017 CarswellNS 904
