“The law says that you can’t discriminate against an employee because of a disabled loved one, but that’s what Ann Arbor schools did to Alison Epler and her family,” said Nick Roumel, an attorney for plaintiff Alison Epler. “After her husband’s severe health crisis, Ann Arbor Public Schools was less than supportive and refused to return Ms. Epler to the position she had earned prior to her husband’s illness.”
A Michigan woman has filed a lawsuit against Ann Arbor Public Schools, claiming that she lost her job after taking time away from work to care for her sick husband.
According to MLive.com, the complaint was filed on behalf of Alison Epler.
Epler, who was a principal at Bach Elementary School in Ann Arbor, was scheduled to remain in her position through the 2017-2018 school year. However, Epler’s husband suffered “a serious medical episode” that left him disabled and unable to take care of himself. She submitted a request for time off under the Family Medical Leave Act, with the expectation that she would be able to resume her duties in November 2017.
Shortly before she was scheduled to return to work, an Ann Arbor Public Schools official reached out to Epler to discuss her placement and her position.
Epler was then told that “she would not be returned to Bach, and that [the district would] retain the interim principal that was placed in that position while Ms. Epler was on leave.”
Attorneys for Epler say that, over the course of the next six years, their client was repeatedly denied opportunities to serve as head principal at other schools. Instead, she was moved between assistant and interim principal roles, with her pay ultimately reduced by about $10,000.
“The law says that you can’t discriminate against an employee because of a disabled loved one, but that’s what Ann Arbor schools did to Alison Epler and her family,” said Nick Roumel, an attorney for Epler. “After her husband’s severe health crisis, Ann Arbor Public Schools was less than supportive and refused to return Ms. Epler to the position she had earned prior to her husband’s illness.”
Epler’s complaint states that took another FMLA leave of absence in spring of 2018, which led to the district rescinding an offered position of lead principal at Haisley Elementary for the 2018-2019 school year.
“They specifically told her that it was because of her husband’s relapse, and that they needed a principal who was not at risk to go on leave, or otherwise be prone to take leave or be distracted because of a partner’s medical condition,” the lawsuit alleges.
MLive.com notes that Epler’s husband, Jason Epler, was diagnosed with transverse myelitis in 2017. The condition, which involves an inflammation of the spinal column, has left him disabled and paralyzed from the shoulders down.
Epler resigned from her position in March, emphasizing in her resignation letter that she had been “demoted with cause” and was searching for employment outside of Ann Arbor Public Schools.
Sources
Alison Epler v. Ann Arbor Public Schools
Epler v. Ann Arbor Public Schools Board of Education (2:24-cv-11993)
Former principal demoted because she took leave to care for ill spouse, lawsuit alleges
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