80-year-old teacher sues to get job back after arguing with school about bathroom breaks
Jose Martinez
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Wednesday, August 3rd 2011, 4:00 AM
An 80-year-old Queens kindergarten teacher is suing to get her job back, claiming she was fired for griping about having to lead her entire class on long walks to the restroom any time one of the tykes had to go.
Lillie Leon, who worked as a city school teacher for more than three decades, was notified last week that she had lost her job at Public School 117 in Briarwood, Queens.
The grandmother of four filed suit in Manhattan in an attempt to overturn her expulsion for insubordination.
"Teaching is my passion," Leon told the Daily News. "But I was put in a position where it was almost impossible for me to safeguard the safety of the children."
Leon, who worked in banking before becoming a teacher in 1978, contends school officials ignored her request to teach first-graders, who wouldn't require supervision on bathroom breaks.
Instead, Leon said, she was told she'd have to lead an entire class of kindergartners through a busy cafeteria any time one of the kids needed to use the restroom. She refused.
"You're dealing with 4- and 5-year-olds who can't fully control themselves," said her lawyer, Stewart Karlin. "And it's really not educationally appropriate to take all that time for restroom duties."
The girls' bathroom, she said, was on the opposite side of the school from her assigned classroom.
"We would have had to walk through the lunchroom when the older children were there," Leon said.
Not to mention, Karlin said, the octogenarian's bad knees.
"She teaches well but she can't really walk quickly," he said. "She's on a cane, she's 80 years old and she's got leg problems."
"Why would you even assign an 80-year-old teacher to a classroom without a bathroom?" he asked.
Leon's petition, filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, also says school administrators assigned her to a room where she had previously complained about the air conditioning and where parents had griped about "filthy" conditions and desks that were built for second-graders.
A spokeswoman for the City Law Department said lawyers are reviewing the suit. A Department of Education spokeswoman was not immediately available for comment.
Leon, who also has a suit pending against the city in federal court, said she just wants to return to the classroom for another year before retiring. She was earning $100,049 a year, records show, and didn't appear to have had any past disciplinary problems.
"I know the children will miss me," she said. "Even from when I started at PS 117, the assistant principal would say that I had my own fan club."
April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008