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Deaf library clerk sues H.B. alleging wrongful termination | - News - The Orange County Register
A deaf woman with cerebral palsy is suing the city of Huntington Beach, saying she was wrongfully fired from her job as a library clerk.
A response from the city lists more than 25 reasons the city is not responsible for the woman's firing, including saying the woman displayed violence in the workplace and did not go through proper channels to report any alleged discrimination or harassment.
Merrie Sager, a 32-year employee of the Huntington Beach City Library, was accused of throwing a book, yelling and making an inappropriate hand gesture, which was used as an excuse to fire her in August of last year, according to the lawsuit.
Sager is suing for lost wages and emotional distress but the lawsuit does not say how much she is seeking.
Sager filed a discrimination complaint to the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing on March 8 saying library management was no longer willing to accommodate her disabilities and her termination was retaliation for her complaints about increasing failures to accommodate her.
Sager says in the lawsuit she fully disclosed her disabilities with the help of her late mother, Joyce Kellis, when she was hired at the library in 1978. Sager required an American Sign Language interpreter at staff meetings and written instructions on work assignments.
Then-library manager Ron Hayden worked with Sager for years to ensure she received "reasonable accommodations" in job tasks of checking in books and placing them back on the shelves, the lawsuit says.
Hayden retired in 2009 and the new library manager, Stephanie Beverage, was less familiar with Sager's needs, the lawsuit states.
Sager would convey her need for an interpreter at meetings and more written communications from but her requests were met with increasingly frequent accusations of performance deficiencies and misconduct, the lawsuit states.
A co-worker accused Sager of violence on Aug. 11, 2010 saying Sager of threw a book, yelled, and made an inappropriate hand gesture.
Sager's attorney, William Crosby, wrote in the lawsuit that the incident was an emotional response to not being allowed to help a volunteer at the library with a job assignment -- a task she had done for many years.
Sager was fired on Aug. 30, 2010, according to a memo that said Sager violated the city's workplace violence policy.
City attorneys wrote in their response to the lawsuit filed in September that the city had grounds to fire Sager because her misconduct would have "resulted in adverse action or discipline, including but not limited to termination."
The city's response says Sager "posed a direct threat to herself and others" and she displayed "workplace violence against others", including her co-workers.
Sager submitted her letter of resignation in early September 2010 as the only alternative to termination, the lawsuit says. Sager wrote her disabilities do not affect her work and describes the alleged discrimination she faced working at the library.
"I am not allowed to talk to any people in the library because I have been told that I might scare them," Sager wrote. "So for 32 years, I have been unable to communicate with anyone at my job. As you can imagine, this has been very difficult for me."
She also states that she disagrees with details of the book-throwing incident.
"There will never be a record of my account of the incident in my employee file. This is wrong," she writes. "I can only pray that someone will read this letter of resignation and try to make changes so that no deaf worker will have to bear the discrimination I have had to endure for 32 years."
She filed a discrimination complaint with the state in March. The agency closed the case three months later and issued her a right-to-sue notice.
A deaf woman with cerebral palsy is suing the city of Huntington Beach, saying she was wrongfully fired from her job as a library clerk.
A response from the city lists more than 25 reasons the city is not responsible for the woman's firing, including saying the woman displayed violence in the workplace and did not go through proper channels to report any alleged discrimination or harassment.
Merrie Sager, a 32-year employee of the Huntington Beach City Library, was accused of throwing a book, yelling and making an inappropriate hand gesture, which was used as an excuse to fire her in August of last year, according to the lawsuit.
Sager is suing for lost wages and emotional distress but the lawsuit does not say how much she is seeking.
Sager filed a discrimination complaint to the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing on March 8 saying library management was no longer willing to accommodate her disabilities and her termination was retaliation for her complaints about increasing failures to accommodate her.
Sager says in the lawsuit she fully disclosed her disabilities with the help of her late mother, Joyce Kellis, when she was hired at the library in 1978. Sager required an American Sign Language interpreter at staff meetings and written instructions on work assignments.
Then-library manager Ron Hayden worked with Sager for years to ensure she received "reasonable accommodations" in job tasks of checking in books and placing them back on the shelves, the lawsuit says.
Hayden retired in 2009 and the new library manager, Stephanie Beverage, was less familiar with Sager's needs, the lawsuit states.
Sager would convey her need for an interpreter at meetings and more written communications from but her requests were met with increasingly frequent accusations of performance deficiencies and misconduct, the lawsuit states.
A co-worker accused Sager of violence on Aug. 11, 2010 saying Sager of threw a book, yelled, and made an inappropriate hand gesture.
Sager's attorney, William Crosby, wrote in the lawsuit that the incident was an emotional response to not being allowed to help a volunteer at the library with a job assignment -- a task she had done for many years.
Sager was fired on Aug. 30, 2010, according to a memo that said Sager violated the city's workplace violence policy.
City attorneys wrote in their response to the lawsuit filed in September that the city had grounds to fire Sager because her misconduct would have "resulted in adverse action or discipline, including but not limited to termination."
The city's response says Sager "posed a direct threat to herself and others" and she displayed "workplace violence against others", including her co-workers.
Sager submitted her letter of resignation in early September 2010 as the only alternative to termination, the lawsuit says. Sager wrote her disabilities do not affect her work and describes the alleged discrimination she faced working at the library.
"I am not allowed to talk to any people in the library because I have been told that I might scare them," Sager wrote. "So for 32 years, I have been unable to communicate with anyone at my job. As you can imagine, this has been very difficult for me."
She also states that she disagrees with details of the book-throwing incident.
"There will never be a record of my account of the incident in my employee file. This is wrong," she writes. "I can only pray that someone will read this letter of resignation and try to make changes so that no deaf worker will have to bear the discrimination I have had to endure for 32 years."
She filed a discrimination complaint with the state in March. The agency closed the case three months later and issued her a right-to-sue notice.
