PHILADELPHIA - A federal lawsuit against Philadelphia's school district says an air conditioner was owed to a third-grade teacher struggling with health problems and a climb up several flights of stairs.
A lawsuit has been filed against the School District of Philadelphia for alleged violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act 1990 (ADA) and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act (PHRA). The plaintiff, Kandis Moffitt, is represented by David Koller of Koller Law LLC.
The suit alleges that the school district engaged in a pattern and practice of discriminatory treatment towards Moffitt. The complaint suggests that managers, supervisors, agents, and employees who had authority over Moffitt's employment were involved in this alleged discrimination.
Moffitt gained employment with the school district in 2014 but began having symptoms of congestive heart failure in 2021. That included swelling in her legs and difficulty breathing.
She said she had to go up four fights of stairs at Hamilton Disston Elementary School several times a day, plus "the antiquated building lacked air conditioning in most areas, making the temperature unbearably hot, especially while wearing a face mask."
In January 2022, Moffitt notified Philadelphia Schools that her condition constituted a disability and requested air conditioning in her classroom as an accommodation.
The district refused in March, saying the building's infrastructure couldn't support an air-conditioned classroom, the suit says.
"Said refusal was meant purely to harass and retaliate against Plaintiff based on her disability and request for reasonable accommodation," the suit says.
Ultimately, the district put an air conditioner in a different room after demanding Moffitt return to work, she says.
Moffitt asserts that she has exhausted her administrative remedies under ADA, Title VII, and PDA before filing this lawsuit. She had previously filed a Charge of Discrimination with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), alleging disability, gender, pregnancy discrimination, and retaliation against the defendant.