Disability Harassment/Retaliation

In Wilbourne V. Forsyth County School District (11th Circuit, 2009), a case was dismissed that involved a teacher who argued that a school district retaliated against her by issuing a "letter of directive" to be placed in her personnel file. The district also filed a complaint against the teacher with the Professional Standards Commission (PSC) for "unprofessional conduct" after she filed a complaint with the PSC regarding an incident involving a teacher abusing her disabled son and then confonting an administrator at her son's school about the school's projected discipline of her son. To establish a case of ADA retaliation, a plaintiff must show three things: (1) that the teacher engaged in a statutorily protected activity; (2) that she suffered an adverse employment action; and (3) a causal link between the protected activity and the adverse action. Once a plaintiff has established a case of retaliation, the employer has an opportunity to present a legitimate, non-retaliatory reason for the challenged employment action. If this is accomplished, the plaintiff then bears the burden of showing that the reason provided by the employer is a pretext for prohibited, retaliatory conduct. Here, the teacher presented insufficient evidence to establish that the district's reasons for taking adverse action against her were pretext for discrimination.