Opinion ID: 4166342
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Brown’s Leave of Absence

Text: In late July 2010, Brown clarified her medical restriction again. She had been assigned to a new school building as an assistant principal. She found that she was expected to “patrol the halls, [and] be involved in student contact.” She called Gorton and told him that she still needed to “avoid interaction with volatile students.” Gorton said he thought her doctor had changed that limit, and he asked her to have her doctor confirm that she had that restriction. Two days later, her doctor told Gorton that Brown “should not be in the vicinity of potentially unruly students.” That restriction, he said, was “permanent”—it would not be removed for at least three to four years, if ever. Gorton immediately told Brown that she could not continue working as an assistant principal and that she would be on sick pay while he worked with her to find a new position. He discussed the scope of the search for a replacement position with her. She said she was interested in 6 No. 16-1971 positions at or above her pay grade, salary, and number of working days, and would prefer to remain in her union. A week later, Gorton sent Brown a list of eight vacant positions he had considered, including a Student Achievement Supervisor position, but he explained that he did not believe any was suitable. For six of the positions, he listed “the job duties require being in the vicinity of potentially unruly students” among the reasons they were unsuitable. For four of the positions, that was the only listed reason. The Student Achievement Supervisor position was unsuitable solely because it required being in the vicinity of potentially unruly students. Brown did not dispute Gorton’s characterization of her restriction. Later that week, Brown expressed interest in two other positions, including a Charter School Program Officer position. Gorton told her she was not physically qualified for those positions because she would “need to be in the schools to interact with students and staff.” Again, Brown did not dispute his characterization of her restriction. The next month, Gorton received a letter from an attorney for Brown’s union. That letter did dispute his understanding of her restrictions, saying that she was able to “interact[] with students and staff” but not able to “serve in a position of authority … over potentially unruly students.” Gorton wrote back disagreeing with the attorney’s characterization and offering to show the attorney the doctor’s specific restrictions. No one followed up with him, and the conversation ended there. Brown had another surgery in late 2010 and was cleared to return to work in early 2011 with restrictions, including a No. 16-1971 7 doctor’s instruction to “avoid/no student discipline situations.” Gorton asked again for clarification and emailed Brown a questionnaire for her doctor to complete. He also asked her to review the factual background provided in the questionnaire, and to let him know if she saw inaccuracies. That background section quoted the doctor’s earlier statement that “Ms. Brown should not be in the vicinity of potentially unruly students.” (Emphasis in original.) It asked the doctor if he was lifting that restriction and what he meant by “avoid student discipline situations.” It added parenthetically that “Ms. Brown does not believe that she should be in the vicinity of unruly students.” Brown evidently did not receive that email; two weeks later, she emailed Gorton to ask why she had not heard from him to arrange her return to work. He re-sent the email and asked her to confirm receipt. He then did not hear from Brown for three weeks, during which he left two voicemails, sent a certified letter, and finally sent an email indicating he would deactivate his file if she did not reply. Brown eventually did reply, and her doctor sent him a response to the questionnaire. The doctor said that the July 2010 restriction, which forbade Brown being “in the vicinity of potentially unruly students,” remained in place. He added that “she should not be put in a position” to injure her knee “in attempting to subdue an unruly student.” Brown later applied for two positions with Milwaukee Schools: a GE Grant Administrator Position and a Title I Coordinator position. She was not selected for either position. She met with Gorton about the reassignment process on October 14, 2011. Each of them later summarized the meeting in an email to the other. According to Gorton, Brown asked why 8 No. 16-1971 she still had not been given a position, and Gorton told her that her work restrictions left very few positions with Milwaukee Schools available to her: “most jobs in the district require interaction with students who may be unruly.” Brown’s account is similar. According to her, Gorton told her that “every job in the district required individuals to work with students, except highly specific positions,” and that she “could not be around potentially unruly students.” Brown did not disagree with that characterization of her restriction. Around the same time, Brown was evaluated by a physician in connection with her disability benefits. That doctor also imposed “permanent work restrictions,” including instructions to “avoid circumstances where unruly behavior may occur. Avoid contact with unruly individuals and situations where potentially unruly behavior may occur.” One month later, in November 2011, Brown asked Gorton about a Student Achievement Supervisor position, which he explained involved “working in the presence of potentially unruly students.” A similar conversation occurred in early 2012: Brown called Gorton to ask about a Student Services Coordinator position, and he said she was not physically qualified for the position.