The city Department of Education is so intent on firing a disabled teacher that it went to court two days before Christmas to terminate him.
Abraham Freud, who worked as a DOE special-ed teacher for 24 years, has become disabled himself, suffering from scoliosis and arthritis, making it impossible for him to physically handle a classroom of autistic students, he told The Post.
“I’m scared to lose my job and health benefits,” said Freud, 46, a father of four. “Just because I’m disabled doesn’t mean I’m garbage and should be thrown away.”
In an ongoing fight, the DOE filed a motion in Brooklyn Supreme Court on Dec. 23 asking a judge to lift an order blocking it from firing Freud, citing a “misuse of taxpayer funds” to continue paying his salary after he exhausted his sick days.
Freud’s lawyer, Christina Martinez, called it not only “heartless” but a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
“This case shines a light on the DOE’s disregard for disabled employees and their legal rights,” she said.
Since November, Freud has been unable to teach at PS K369 in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, a K-to-12 school for kids with severe disabilities.
He has repeatedly applied to work as an attendance teacher, which involves making phone calls and visiting homes, but learned the DOE had blacklisted his file with a “problem code.”
“I never got back one response,” he said.
The DOE said it could not answer questions on the case Friday because officials are off,
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