On December 11th, 2025, Kennedy Hunt P.C. filed a complaint against Alton Community Unit School District 11 Board of Education in the Circuit Court of Madison County, Illinois, for discrimination and retaliation in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Illinois Human Rights Act, the Illinois Whistleblower Act, and the Illinois Wage and Collection Act.
The lawsuit alleges the Alton Community Unit School District discriminated against and retaliated against our client – a former Special Education Supervisor in the district – because she reported instances in which the school district violated the ADA, the IHRA, and thus failed to provide students with the reasonable accommodations they are entitled to by law.
The lawsuit claims that on one or more occasions, our client reported the ongoing violations to her superiors in the school district, but they failed to act.
Per the lawsuit:
On or about October 28, 2024, Plaintiff discovered that [the Special Education Director] had bypassed her and unilaterally altered a student’s schedule—placing the student entirely in a special-education setting—without modifying the student’s IEP. On or about October 29, 2024, following the unlawful placement change, the student attacked a teacher, who subsequently pressed criminal charges.
The lawsuit alleges the School District’s failure to address the ongoing violations took a significant toll on our client’s mental and physical health. According to the lawsuit, on or about November 4, 2024, as a result of our client’s deteriorating mental and physical health, our client submitted a letter of resignation to the School District, with a proposed termination date of December 31, 2024.
On November 8, 2024, the School District superintendent allegedly informed our client that the Board of Education would not accept her resignation and threatened to report our client to the Illinois State Board of Education for disciplinary action if she resigned.
Following this, our client took two weeks off from work due to alleged emotional distress. During that time, our client allegedly discovered that the School District failed to pay her for the month of November.
The lawsuit continues:
On or about November 24, 2024, [our client] emailed the School District about the deleted Red Rover entries and stated that she viewed the deletion as evidence that the School District had effectively terminated her employment. The School District did not reply to [our client’s] email.
The lawsuit further alleges that the School District retaliated against our client by submitting a false report to the Illinois State Board of Education, falsely claiming that our client had accepted a new teaching position and abandoned her job mid-year.
The lawsuit continues:
ISBE rejected the School District’s complaint because [our client] was not working in a teaching position for the District and had not accepted any new teaching position. Had ISBE accepted the School District’s false claim, [our client] could have lost her teaching license, and it would have diminished her ability to get a job with any new school.
The lawsuit claims that around the same time, the School District made a similar threat to request that the ISBE revoke the license of another teacher as well. This teacher allegedly reported similar ADA violations to those of our client. She also resigned because of the impact the situation had on her well-being.
According to the lawsuit:
The School District’s actions—including refusing to correct violations, issuing threats, withholding wages, deleting time entries, and submitting retaliatory complaints to ISBE—made [our client’s] continued employment intolerable.
The lawsuit states that our client was discharged from her role in late November 2024. According to the lawsuit, at the end of her employment, the School District failed to pay our client for all of her paid time off.
Our client has suffered lost wages, emotional distress, and mental anguish. The lawsuit seeks judgment for our client’s unpaid salary for November 2024, paid time off for the unused paid time off at the end of her employment, damages for our client and costs, expenses, and attorneys’ fees.
This case is ongoing. For more information, contact attorney Michelle Faron at michelle@kennedyhuntlaw.com. If you or someone you know has been a victim of discrimination, our skilled attorneys at Kennedy Hunt, P.C. may be able to help you. Fill out a questionnaire so we can understand your claim.