Tueth Keeney Attorneys Obtain Summary Judgment for Missouri School District in Discrimination Lawsuit

Jan 15, 2008

On January 15, 2008, the Honorable Judge Noce of the United States District Court of the Eastern District of Missouri granted summary judgment in favor of Tueth Keeney client Parkway School District and dismissed the plaintiff’s case against the District.

Tueth Keeney attorneys, Margaret Hesse and Michelle Basi had been defending the district in this matter in which the plaintiff argued that the District discriminated against him because of his disability when the District terminated his employment after he had missed approximately six months of work. The plaintiff argued that a one-year leave of absence was a reasonable accommodation under the ADA. The District argued that the employee’s repeated requests for continuations of his original approved short-term medical leave of absence were unreasonable and that a one-year leave of absence under these circumstances was not a reasonable accommodation.

Margaret Hesse primarily practices in the areas of education law, employment law and litigation. She has represented school districts in employment matters, including Title VII, the Safe Schools Act, Title IX, and the Equal Pay Act. She has represented employers in labor matters before the United States Department of Labor/Wage and Hour Division and the Illinois Commission of Human Rights.

Michelle Hammond Basi practices in the areas of school law, special education, school litigation, and labor and employment law. Michelle represents school districts throughout Missouri with respect to employment and termination matters, special education, Section 504, student discipline and student rights, civil rights, and church/state issues. Michelle has successfully represented school districts in student and employment matters before various federal and state courts and administrative agencies, including the EEOC, Missouri Commission on Human Rights, and the Office for Civil Rights. She is also a regular speaker at statewide and regional school law conferences.

Missouri Education – The law firm of Tueth Keeney Cooper Mohan & Jackstadt, P.C. (the “Firm”), has one of the largest and most successful education law groups in the country. The Firm regularly serves the legal counsel needs of approximately 150 school districts throughout Missouri. The Firm also has one of the largest school law practices in Central and Southern Illinois.