Teacher files grievance after district denies assault leave request

A special education teacher was assaulted by a student who tore a set of blinds off a wall in her classroom, hit her on the back of the head with the blinds, then punched her in the neck. The teacher requested assault leave benefits from the district. 

The assault leave statute provides that "an employee of a school district who is physically assaulted during the performance of the employee's regular duties is entitled to the number of days of leave necessary to recuperate from all physical injuries sustained as a result of the assault."

The district denied the teacher's request for assault leave and she filed a grievance. The grievance was denied by the district board of trustees and she appealed to the commissioner of education.

In evaluating the appeal, the commissioner noted that, in order to be eligible for assault leave a teacher must:

1. be physically assaulted during performance of work duties, 
2. be physically injured from such an assault, and 
3. leave must be necessary to recuperate from the physical injuries caused by such an assault. 

The statute states that the assault must be a physical assault, and the injuries must also be physical.

In this case, the teacher was diagnosed with both physical and psychological injuries. Specifically, she demonstrated anxiety and PTSD. She was also diagnosed with post-concussion syndrome. 

However, there was a question as to whether the psychological injuries predated the assault. The record showed that the teacher made statements that she had PTSD from an incident in the military and that she was now triggered by some of her students, especially one student who frequently exhibited violence. She said she was very upset and hesitant to even come in the building because of her anxiety and PTSD. She also stated that her mental issues and stress were giving her physical symptoms. These statements constituted evidence that non-physical injuries were a reason the teacher needed leave to recuperate.

Assault leave requires not just a physical injury but that there must be a need for leave to recuperate from the physical injury. In this case, there was a question of whether it was the physical injuries or the psychological injuries that prevented the teacher from returning to work.

Since the district could have determined that the teacher's only injuries that prevented her from returning to work were not physical or were not caused by the student assault, the commissioner determined there was not sufficient evidence to show that the district violated the law by denying the teacher's request for assault leave.