Fired librarian sues Liberty School District

By Michael Lumsden
mlumsden@th-record.com

Liberty — Fired Liberty school librarian Angela Page filed a lawsuit Wednesday in U.S. District Court against the Liberty School District, alleging disability discrimination and violation of the district's contract with the teachers union. Page is seeking $2 million in damages, plus legal fees.

Suit claims district discriminated against her because of her illness

Angela Page, pictured at her home in Liberty, is suing the Liberty School District for firing her. She claims the district is discriminating against her because she has been too ill to work since 2004. Times Herald-Record/Michele Haskell

The suit comes a day after Liberty's school board voted 6-1, with 2 abstentions, to fire Page because she has been too ill to work in the school since June 2004.

Page developed multiple chemical sensitivity from the toxic gases released by mold in the middle school library, where she worked from 1991 to 2004.

She won the workers' compensation claim she brought against the school district, but that decision is being appealed.

The complaint filed by Page's lawyer, Michael Sussman, says that the Liberty Faculty Association's contract with the district ensures faculty members will remain employed while on workers' compensation.

The suit also claims that Page's requests to be assigned different duties and a clean work environment "were dishonored in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act."

A state arbitrator last month agreed with former Liberty Superintendent Lawrence Clarke's assessment that creating a new position for Page or allowing her to carry out library duties virtually from her home "would place an undue hardship on the district."