For the clarity of this post let's call the teacher Kate.

Kate has been working at the Primary school for years. So many years that she could retire at the end of this semester. She teaches the "special" kids. Some have mental disabilities, others were born blind. She is a great teacher, and has many successes with her students, but the principal and Kate never really got along. Kate would take her students on great field trips. She would take them to ride therapy horses and to the nearby gymnastics facility. The kids learned discipline and gained strength. Many of the kids learned how to do things/did things they would never have been able to do if they had not been taken on these outings. A few years ago the principal decided to take away the bus privilege (money probably did take a part in this). The students could not go out and receive the help these things provided.

At some point the school decided to put a video camera in Kate's room without telling her. She was later called into the office and given the ultimatum, "Resign now, or they would call defax." The option to retire was not given. The reason for this call was something caught on tape. She had taken a child by the arm and lead them to a chair. Seriously?!

I don't mind the fact they put in a video camera without telling her, it is a public building. But telling her THAT for what she did?!

Disabled children sometimes need to be physically guided to a seat or area. If a child is starting to run off with the possibility of hurting them self or others, is it not better to catch their arm?!

Many people were in this office and she could not leave without choosing one of their options. She was not even allowed to call or speak to anyone. She could NOT leave the room without giving them an answer.

Is this even okay?

[edit] I didn't know the details of what was on the video, as I heard the story from my mom. Well what the principal used was a 15 second video showing Kate lead a child from one chair to another by her arm.

It sounds like she needs a really, really good lawyer. Technically, under certain laws, that recording wouldn't even be admissible in courts since it's illegal in the US to record someone without their knowledge and okay. Plus, what they did to prevent her leaving would also constitute, I believe if my understanding of the law itself is pretty accurate, unlawful restraint?

I dunno, that whole thing is fucked up. x.x

No, this is against the law. She has a right to an attorney.

Out of curiosity, how did all this get into the public's knowledge, so that you are sharing it with us now?

No. She needs an attorney. I was in special ed for a few years and while I never acted out, there were several students that needed physical discipline. It's illegal in the US to record someone without their knowledge or their permission. Their parents could have a problem with their children being recorded without their permission too.

That's really too bad. It takes a special person to work with special needs kids. While I disliked being treated like I was a special needs kid because I only have a learning disability, others need that form of attention.

I didn't understand what she did wrong until you said it clearly in the second to last sentence. This is dumb. For many reasons.

For pulling someone's arm? She must have been vicious and ripped that sucker off. I ASSUMED when I read it she was leading someone. Unless there is something in her contract that she signed that makes this okay, I would think that this is totally illegal. Although, perhaps the teacher willingly chose her fate? There is nothing stopping her.

She must have done some really nasty things to the principal to get her to implant a camera in her room. It's almost desperate. It IS desperate. Otherwise, I agree with what the above said.

Under the pressure these people put on her (choosing to resign, not retire, or they would call defax), she chose to resign. After she was able to think without people pushing her towards the choices they gave her, she was able to call an attorney. While in the room they wouldn't even let her call anyone. After speaking with the attorney she was told to call/email her close friends or people who knew her well. One such person happened to be my mom. We know "Kate" very well and couldn't understand how they were able to do such a thing.

So a taping someone without their knowledge is illegal? That's good, and is something she can use on her side. 

What about the ultimatum they gave her? She "willingly" chose to resign because the alternative was them calling Child Services. She signed a paper, but that decision was made under duress, so would it really count?

If defax/child services had been called, and the tape was considered admissible, would she be able to get in trouble for what she did? A mentally disabled child was not listening, or did not understand her instruction, so she took the child by the arm and led them to a seat. The child may have been about to run off, so she caught the kid's arm.

I really do not understand this AT ALL. I work part time with kids. One of which has autism (extreme) and I have had to catch his arm on multiple occasions to save keep him from getting hurt or from hurting someone else. There has been times I've had to take his arm and lead him to a chair for time out. He understands time-outs and will not go to the chair on his own and will cry about how he won't do it again, or even try to run away. Would that be grounds to call Defax on me? I really don't think so. :/ 

If they could call Defax why would they have given her the chance to resign. They could have just called Child Services and fired her. :/

[edit] Wow, I wrote alot more than I thought. :# And I hope it all makes sense and isn't just me rambling. Lol

That's not okay. They (the school) are very likely to be guilty of the tort of false imprisonment, but it depends on the jurisdiction and other factors. However, from where I'm standing, if Kate can sincerely convince a court that she felt like she couldn't physically leave the situation without being physically restrained or receive some severe punishment (like the call to Child Services), it seems like the facts stand in Kate's favor.

I can't say I know much about the filming, but I'm positive there's an act/statute somewhere out there that covers filming someone covertly (not public, visible security cameras).

So, yeah. She has two major factors in her favor and should lawyer up.

On the topic of her line of work. I know the the US is rabid about the whole "no touch" policy between pupil and tutor, but I think a reasonable person can see that it's quite different when we're dealing with children who are disabled. Children who live with disabilities sometimes need to be held back or guided somewhere, it's virtually a fact of life as pointed out with their example. To suggest otherwise is nothing short of ignorance.

I'm so glad I don't live in the US. When I was in high school, I used to hug my teachers almost all the time, and on the day I graduated, I exchanged faire la bise (European cheek-kiss greeting) with one of my close tutors. I don't even want to think about what would have happened to them if I didn't live here.

OMG they are in the wrong for so many reasons it's not funny.

1. Filming her room... If she didn't know then it can be counted as voyeurism I think. And also was it just her room or ALL the classrooms? If they did it in all then ok whatever, but if just hers then it can also be counted as targeting/harassment maybe
2. Not allowing her to call ANYBODY while in the office... When it comes to legal things like that she has the right to call someone before making any decision
3. Her being in that office and not allowed to leave til a choice was made sounds like a big no no... I know of the term I'm thiking of but can't remember it right now, but it's not good
4. If it was such an issue the school handled it wrong by not calling protective services in to talk to her about the video or the well being of the child or even the situation in general so as to come to a decision for it

I honestly don't think it should matter if the principal liked/disliked her at all. What matters is how "Kate" worked. Many if not all jobs will have people who get along/dislike eachother and that should have no bearing on rating the work done by those people for that job. And even if "kate" may have done something to irritate the principal that gives them no right to do what they did with the secret filming and forcing her to make a choice without the option of calling anyone and not able to leave til a choice got made.

, it doesn't matter whatsoever. I wasn't saying that whatever actions Kate may have done toward the principal justified the action or made it okay. I was just contemplating why someone would do something like this, and the only reason would be if they wanted them removed. We are actually not sure in this case whether the principal is even angry at her, just that they wish for her to be gone. Perhaps it is a completely different reason other than anger.

If this is in response to what I wrote before, I just want to take a moment to say that I am no lawyer-at all. This was just something that I pondered while reading further into it. I don't know what the answer would be, but I can imagine something like that being a loophole. But again, I don't know this type of stuff.

There are so many things wrong with that post. She does not deserve this at all.

Working with kids who have special needs is challenging. My brother is autistic; he can't speak verbally and sometimes gets very upset when he doesn't understand something or does not get his way. He has grown out of this habit, but he used to punch himself in the face when he was very upset. What would somebody do--let him punch himself in his face? No. Grab his arms and try to calm him down. Not let him beat the living crap out of himself.

Sometimes, my brother needs to be guided. If it takes someone to lead him to a location by holding his hand or arm to do it, then so be it. That's fine.

That teacher should not have been recorded without her acknowledgment. That is just wrong. Just because she didn't have the best relationship with the principal, doesn't mean this gave a right to video tape her. And to not allow her to leave without giving an answer? That is ridiculous. This is faaaaar away from being okay. I feel so bad for her.