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November 12, 2005
Teacher Says She Got Sick At Work: Claims Blood-To-Blood Contact Gave Her Liver Ailment Hepatitis C
Lori Baron says she loves the kids she works with, even the one that gave her a debilitating disease.
For the past 11 years, Baron has worked as a teacher's aide with emotionally disturbed and physically disabled children at Beach Channel High School in Queens.
...In the last two years, the teachers' union has received reports of 128 staff members who've had blood-to-blood contact with students. Under federal guidelines, teachers in these high-risk situations are supposed to receive training, protective gear like gloves and aprons and free hepatitis B vaccinations.
But recent inspections by the New York State Labor Department have found the city's plan to be lacking. Since 2004, the Department of Education has been slapped with 14 violations, and currently faces fines of more than $40,000.
"We do not understand why the board pays no attention to this but it is really putting its employees, and its students, in terrible danger," teachers' union president Randi Weingarten said.
Posted by Michelle at November 12, 2005 06:27 PM