Zero tolerance, right off a cliff

Dear Bob …

I have been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and get Social Security Disability Insurance.

I use a service dog to assist w/ mobility, alertness needs. I have had MS (diagnosed in 1982), last worked 2002. Nobody had a problem with me, or my service dog, Daisy.

For a couple of years we went everywhere with no trouble. The workplace is a public elementary school in California.

One day, a fundamentalist administrator complained — said some policy prohibits dogs. I asked about ADA [Americans with Disabilities Act] service dogs. The administrator did the Authoritarian thing — said ALL DOGs. No exception. It turns out that the administrator was asking about me, and after turning me down, called me a lesbian, then added insult to injury by calling me a transgender!

Is this situation sexual harassment, disability rights violation, or am I missing something? Do parents need to take treatment like that from anyone?

– Inflamed

Dear Inflamed …

I’m unclear whether this is an employment situation or one where you’re acting as a parent or volunteer when visiting the school.

In any event, understand I’m not a trained attorney, so my understanding of employment law isn’t definitive.

Here’s how it looks from here: Based on your account of the situation, the school district needs to either educate or terminate the administrator as soon as it can. Ideally it would hire Superman to circle the earth counterclockwise for awhile so the education and/or termination takes place in the past.

First of all, to the best of my knowledge service dogs are welcome everywhere with no exceptions. Second of all, if you’re an employee the ADA almost certainly applies, and I can’t imagine any circumstance in which a service dog wouldn’t be a reasonable accommodation, unless you worked in the Canine Allergies ward of your local hospital.

And third, the lesbian/transgender comment is so far out of bounds that I can’t even see in bounds through a good pair of binoculars. (Proper squelch: “I’m not a lesbian. I’m not attracted to you because you’re a dink.” I used “dink” because this is a business column. Feel free to substitute a “c” for the “n” in real-life use.)

If you’re an employee, I’d advise filing an immediate, formal, written complaint to Human Resources. The dog issue is an ADA violation, the lesbian/transgender comment is sexual harassment. Let HR know that unless the situation is resolved to your satisfaction in a week you’ll be forced to engage an attorney for self-protection, and you’d prefer to avoid that level of escalation if you can.

If you’re a volunteer, go as far up the management hierarchy as you need to in order to get someone interested … and then, walk away to volunteer somewhere that appreciates someone who donates time for a good cause.

If you’re acting as a parent, go immediately to the School Board, describe your experience, and suggest in no uncertain terms that they either deal with the situation quickly and quietly, or you’ll deal with it very noisily. And carry through, probably through the PTO. The children who attend the school where this administrator works deserve to be protected from Pleistocene idiots like the administrator in question.

– Bob