Wash. Court of Appeals published opinion — 315223.cor.pdf

Bonnie Ducharme, a supervisor of elementary counselors. Ms. Easterling contends that

the meeting was to discuss the goals of serving students eligible for accommodation

under section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973} Ms. Thomas's memorandum

summarizing the meeting characterized it differently, describing the purpose of the

meeting as to review other matters, including morning arrival time and goal sheets for

school counselors. Ms. Easterling did not challenge this memorandum at the time, but

now characterizes it as an inaccurate reflection of what occurred.

Section 504, currently codified at 29 U.S.C. § 794(a), provides that "[n]o
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otherwise qualified individual with a disability in the United States, as defined in section
705(20) of this title, shall, solely by reason of her or his disability, be excluded from the
participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any
program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance."

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No. 3 1522-3-III
Spokane Sch. Dist. No. 81 v. Spokane Educ. Ass 'n

In January 2012, Ms. Easterling took bereavement leave following the death of her

aunt. She claims that Ms. Thomas's treatment of her changed thereafter. Instead of face­

to-face interaction with Ms. Thomas, she claims to have received "harassing emails ...

containing factual inaccuracies or complete misstatements." Clerk's Papers (CP) at 254.

She complains that she was required to wear a walkie-talkie, was reprimanded for taking

a student for a therapeutic walk, was told that permission slips would be required for

walks in the future, was told that items that had been collected in a donation drive needed