A school district terminated a teacher who had been arrested for being under the influence and possession of a narcotic. That arrest was prominently displayed in the local paper. That teacher had excellent evaluations and there had never been any issues at work related to her substance abuse. While the teacher successfully participated in a drug treatment program in lieu of being convicted, the district nonetheless chose to fire her employer fired her for “conviction of a felony,” “immorality,” and “grounds sufficient to revoke her teaching license.” A panel of the Fair Dismissal Appeals Board found that the district failed to prove any of the statutory grounds for dismissal and therefore ordered reinstatement. The teacher had never been convicted, and conduct arising out of her substance abuse disorder was not “immoral” as that term had been defined. It was not “selfish” nor directed at harming third parties. In reaching that conclusion, the panel noted that school district policies did not treat work-related conduct arising out of alcohol abuse any differently than issues arising out of other substance abuse. Thus, it made no sense to call her off-duty conduct “immoral” just because it involved a narcotic and was publicized in the paper.
Fair Dismissal Appeals Board Orders Reinstatement of Teacher
