WWYD?? (Kinda long but need advice)

My mom works one of the larger high schools on LI. She is the admin for one of the assistant principals (AP). The AP she worked with for 15 years retired last year and she was assigned a new AP. This AP has a long history of terrible relationships with her admins and, last year, her admin went out on medical leave due to the stress the AP caused her. Both the admin and the AP were transferred. This year, my mom has had nothing short of a terrible experience. She undermines my mom’s position, takes work away from her that she has been doing for the last 15 years, questions everything she does, and intentionally makes efforts to confuse her (giving her a task to do and then telling her she never gave her that task). This is just a short list of the issues. The head principal is aware of the situation but, because the AP is tenured and the district is aware of her issues, they won’t do anything to reprimand her.

So, now the issue is that my mom has been crying everything before, during, and after school. It’s totally consumed her life. She is miserable when I call her, her blood pressure is sky rocketing and she was put on medication last week, and he general mental health and well-being are compromised. I told her to call her union rep and she said she did but they didn’t do anything. I told her to call again and tell them that she will contact an attorney is the situation is not rectified because she is working in a “hostile work environment.” She said the district doesn’t consider this to be a hostile work environment. I’m a social worker and my strong suit is advocacy. But in this situation my mom (and family) are up against the school district politics. Is there anything my mom or I can do? Can I write a letter to the district? Either with my name on it or anonymously?

Re: WWYD?? (Kinda long but need advice)

if the principal is aware of the situation and refuses to act, i doubt there is anything that can be done even if you contact the superintendent. administration is going to stick together especially on that level. you could try contacting the State but they will probably only refer you back to the superintendent. they dont like to get involved in what they consider to be an internal matter. you could try legal recourse but that might be hard to prove. it would be your mom's word against her boss and her boss has the district on her side. it seems that her boss wants her out and is making it miserable so she quits. if your mom's health is compromised she might consider looking for another job with another district. she seems to have alot of experience behind her. i hope everything works out.

Re: WWYD?? (Kinda long but need advice)

Posted by yourenotme

if the principal is aware of the situation and refuses to act, i doubt there is anything that can be done even if you contact the superintendent. administration is going to stick together especially on that level. you could try contacting the State but they will probably only refer you back to the superintendent. they dont like to get involved in what they consider to be an internal matter. you could try legal recourse but that might be hard to prove. it would be your mom's word against her boss and her boss has the district on her side. it seems that her boss wants her out and is making it miserable so she quits. if your mom's health is compromised she might consider looking for another job with another district. she seems to have alot of experience behind her. i hope everything works out.

Re: WWYD?? (Kinda long but need advice)

She could file a grievence with her union

Re: WWYD?? (Kinda long but need advice)

Posted by DiamondGirl

She could file a grievence with her union

Re: WWYD?? (Kinda long but need advice)

you can do with what my boss did to get rid of his boss (and we are state workers) write down everything she asks you to do and then dictate it back, every time she is late, calls in sick, takes a long lunch, write it down. Every email she writes you save it especially if it is proof of something she might say she never asked you to do. If she lashes out on another employee write it down or take note of witnesses. Then present it to her boss and if they do not do anything then go higher up, etc.

Get the union involved, try to contact the prev. person that she stressed out to testify.

Re: WWYD?? (Kinda long but need advice)

Re: WWYD?? (Kinda long but need advice)

Re: WWYD?? (Kinda long but need advice)

I am WELL aware of school politics, unfortunately. It will be a long, painful, drawn out process if it is pursued legally.

But - someone said something very important - documentation.

When she gives your mom a task to do (that will magically not have ever been given to her the next day) have your mom do the following:

Email the woman IMMEDIATELY and CC it to the princpal, and anyone else who may be involved in administrative tasks. In the email, your mom should just casually state the task as:

I wanted to let you know I started doing _____ as per your request on Mon, Oct. 5, and it should be completed by this Thurs, Oct. 8. Let me know if there is anything else I need to do for....

etc - but for every task. She can also put a return receipt on the email to record if the email has been open. Even better if the principal is on board, and replies all saying" Thanks, Jane!" to let everyone know someone read the email.

If there are other people your mom could collect documents and data with, all the better - but she should also be very, very careful about who she speaks to, as people can back stab in these situations, unfortunately.

Also - if your mom could verbally mention tasks in front of people in the same format, so other people could be witness to things the AP said, that would help too. I have been in her position a few times, and it is horrible. I have learned how to cover my asss every step of the way.

Message edited 10/6/2009 9:06:44 AM.

Re: WWYD?? (Kinda long but need advice)

I agree with all of the previous posters who mentioned that its important for your mom to keep detailed records. She should also keep a log of all of their conversations and instances where the AP was unreasonable or erratic.

Your Mom also needs to request that her union file a grievance on her behalf. If the union rep refuses, she should contact the union's main office by sending a letter, certified mail, outlining the situation and indicating that she is again requesting that the union file a grievance on her behalf. In that letter, she should also indicate that if the union refuses to file and process a grievance on her behalf, she will consider filing charges against the union (for failing to represent her) with PERB. That will get some action..... trust me.

Sounds like a horrible situation! I hope the union steps up soon and helps your mom out.

Re: WWYD?? (Kinda long but need advice)

Thank you all SO much for your responses. I will be reading this to her tomorrow when I speak to her. I really the hope the situation changes soon.

Re: WWYD?? (Kinda long but need advice)

Message edited 11/29/2011 2:46:00 PM.

Re: WWYD?? (Kinda long but need advice)

This sounds like a complete system failure and hiring a lawyer might be the best route. Just because the school district doesn't do anything about it doesn't mean they CAN'T, it just means they WON'T. They can transfer your mom or empower her to request all instructions from the AP in writing.

It definitely SOUNDS like a hostile work environment and if they're threatened with testimony from all of the other admins of this AP, a pattern will emerge and they'll look REALLY bad.