Isabelle Hood
Think about this for a second – a firefighter who is afraid of fire. Sounds unlikely, right? Yet this was the reality for Shayn Proler from the Houston Fire Department. In 2014, Shayn was grappling with this fear. When his superiors caught wind of his unique situation, they moved him to an office role. This new position kept him safe from the fiery element he dreaded, but Shayn wasn’t content. He yearned for the adrenaline rush of his former job in the fire suppression unit.
Not willing to accept this change lying down, Shayn decided to fight for his right to fight fires. He made an unconventional argument – his fear of fire was a disability. Moreover, he contended that he was being discriminated against because of this disability. He wanted to face his fear head-on, and he felt that his reassignment was impeding his right to do so. He took his case to court, aiming to prove that his phobia should be acknowledged as a disability that should not bar him from his chosen line of work.
The case took an interesting turn when it made its way to the Texas Supreme Court. After examining the details, the court reached a verdict: there was no evidence that Proler had been discriminated against due to a disability. His fear of fire, while undoubtedly real, did not legally qualify as a disability. So, while Shayn’s bravery in confronting his fear was commendable, his case ultimately went up in smoke. His fear of fire remains just that – a fear, rather than a legally recognized disability.
Have you ever been so disappointed with a grade that you felt like suing? While it sounds absurd, this exact scenario played out in a Pennsylvania graduate school. We’re all familiar with desperate pleas for extra credit or grade bumps, but a lawsuit over a grade takes academic grievances to a new level.
Meet the graduate student in question, Megan Thode, she has big dreams of becoming a licensed therapist. She’s worked hard and is nearing the end of her journey. Then, she’s hit with a C+ grade. It’s a blow, a setback that blocks her path to the degree she’s striving for. What’s worse, Thode calculates that this single grade could potentially cost her a staggering $1.3 million in lost earnings over the course of her career. It’s a tough pill to swallow.
So, what does Thode do? She decides to fight. Instead of accepting the grade and moving on, she takes an unconventional route. She sued over the C+. This isn’t a common occurrence, and it sparks a lot of attention. The case is heard in the Northampton County Court and is watched closely by both the academic community and the public.
However, the judge doesn’t see it from Thode’s perspective. As reported by the Morning Call, the judge ruled that Thode hadn’t proven that her grade was anything other than a “purely academic evaluation.” In other words, Thode’s professor felt she wasn’t ready to advance to the next level of her course. Despite the heated courtroom debate, the judge upheld the age-old academic principle of educators having the final say in a student’s grade.
The decision put a final period on the case, but it didn’t erase the obvious awkwardness. One can only imagine the frosty silence that may have filled the room the next time Thode found herself sitting in class, under the watchful gaze of the professor she’d taken to court.
