Recently, Allison has been struggling rather badly with an organization known as Vocational Rehabilitation. Her son is autistic, and while he’s extremely high-functioning, he’s going to require some assistance as he prepares to begin college and take his first steps toward getting and keeping a job.
We join the story at a point where it has already been a frustrating comedy of errors. A meeting was held in order to discuss the results of an evaluation. While Allison, like most teachers, can read, these folks thought it best that she take a day off from work, requiring her to find her own substitute teacher and risk making an already touchy administrator unhappy, so that the report could be read to her. To add insult to injury, the information that was most needed and most time-sensitive was not available, although no one mentioned that.
After several fruitless communications aimed at getting better service, Allison wrote a rather strongly-worded but still quite professional e-mail to the Vocational Rehabilitation counselor, who would probably not want me to mention that her name is Lisa Engelhart. There was no harsh language, but she made it very clear that she was dissatisfied with the constant missed deadlines, wasted time, and lack of urgency since there were college registration deadlines involved.
In a moment, the following disclaimer, which appears at the bottom of Engelhart’s e-mail to Allison and is therefore included in Allison’s own e-mail, will take on a certain significance.
********************************************************************************************** GDOL CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This transmission may contain confidential information protected by state or federal law. The information is intended only for use consistent with the state business discussed in this transmission. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution, or the taking of any action based on the contents is strictly prohibited. If you have received this transmission in error, please delete this email and notify the sender immediately.Your cooperation is appreciated. **********************************************************************************************
Here’s where it gets interesting. Lisa Engelhart apparently has a personal therapist, who would probably not want you to know that his name is Ron Fisher, Ph.D. or that he is founder and director of the Center for Professional & Personal Growth, Inc. Lisa Engelhart forwarded Allison’s E-mail as well as her own to her therapist, complete and unedited.
As if that weren’t a stupid enough mistake, Dr. Fisher apparently got a great chuckle out of the whole thing and replied, calling Allison the “parent from hell.” Unfortunately, the therapist from hell managed to hit “Reply All,” and the reply went to Allison, too.
You know that feeling you get when someone’s just tripped and fallen in a comical way? That feeling that you really are sorry and hope no one got seriously hurt, but that sure was funny! That’s about the feeling I’m getting now. Engelhart has been caught with her pants down forwarding confidential correspondence to a third party, and Fisher just broke doctor-patient confidentiality, so he’s in hot water with both Engelhart and Allison!
Ah, the joy of life in these United States.
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Hahaha Morons, up their own arses I bet.
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I hope Allison now kicks some SERIOUS ass. Wishher good luck from me, I know just how frustrating it is dealing with “authorities”.
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Bloody hell, that stinks higher than a dead fish in a sh*t heap.
I second Jenny’s sentiments 🙁
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BUSTED!
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Jobs should be on the line, here’s hoping Allison gets a result.
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What wasn’t mentioned in Scott’s blog was that Ms. E’s delays were not merely inconvenient. They cost my son his enrollment in college this fall term. Scott may find some comedy in this but I am livid beyond reason. Feel sorry for Ms. E? My empathy resides in the same bottomless pit her sense of duty and professionalism feel into when she brushed my son’s case off for six months then whined to her therapist because I became indignant. My job, place of residence, financial limitations etc. all revolve around getting my son into college so that he can earn his way to independence. I could laugh at Ms. E’s supidity if there weren’t such consequences. The net result is that my son will have to go live with his father for this semester to get him into a trade school until things can be sorted. He has to be a student or he can’t stay on my health insurance. Ms. E may have fallen on her ass but it’s my son’s education she fractured.
We shall see what results can be had on this one. There is a lovely thing called an “open records request”. This entitles a client, such as my son since he is 18, to request copies of ALL correspondence of any kind (hand written notes to email and back). This will reveal the extent of Ms. E’s transgression. Servers are searched so that even deleted emails and documents are pulled. What she did is not only unethical it is illegal. It is a violation of federally mandated confidentiality. Since it is damn near impossible to sue the government directly (unless ou have large sums of money for lawyers) the question remains, what about Ms. E? I have yet to decide. If the punitive measures are strong enough I may refrain from legal action. If they try to slide this one by as an “oops” without serious repercussions I will take legal action. The object of the exercise is to serve my son. If they get off their asses and do that at least something has been accomplished.
It is poor judgment to anger a mother bear. It is even worse judgment to anger a mother bear when your house stands not ten feet from her cave. Ms. E is responsible for services to students in the high school adjacent to my school. My students grow to depend on her services. As a parent I explained the situation to the administration at the high school. As a teacher I am mandated to report transgressions involving confidentiality. There are oh so many ways Ms. E is about to experience the depth of her mistake.
Allison