Desperate to keep health insurance
Donation protected
Okay, the picture is for dramatic effect and humor, but our friend and colleague Vicki Samson really needs our help. After more than 20 years as an adjunct instructor, she was FIRED for letting her students go early on the last day after they submitted their final essays! I do this myself, I'm sure many of you do, and any glance around the parking lots during that last week tells you that nearly every other professor does it as well.
If you've ever been to college or any other adult event, you know good and well that when the task is done people want to take off.
The dean never even had the decency to discuss any of this with her, despite her pristine employment record. All of a sudden, Vicki just couldn't log in to one of her accounts. The dean sent an impersonal e-mail to tell her she had been fired for "absence from her duty station"! What... was she supposed to be at the fries machine or something? Talk about unprofessional and cowardly!
The problem is that adjunct instructors are considered "at-will employees" so there is no one to protect them. Twenty-plus years and NO ONE to protect her from this ridiculous and petty act!?
The urgent need is to keep her COBRA insurance so she can continue getting her life-saving medicine. It will cost less to pay the $659 for COBRA than to get new insurance on the marketplace. The cheapest we found was $634 a month with a $6,000 deductible plus who knows how much for the prescriptions. Just one of them, Spiriva (for chronic bronchitis which was exacerbated last summer when the Holy Fire was so close to her home and she was put on supplemental oxygen), would cost over $400 a month.
Asking for help is not something Vicki wanted to do but she desperately needs help until she is covered again, and we all know the scheduling situations with schools, not to mention the difficulty of finding one that offers insurance. That is why I offered to start this funding for her. She will need at least a few months of coverage at this point, so I have set the goal at $3,000.
Can you please help? Even the equivalent of one Starbucks run would make a huge difference. And remember, especially if you are an adjunct, you are not protected (don't be fooled by that collective bargaining agreement or priority of assignment status--neither will do a thing for you!) and this could be you at any moment, possibly fighting for your life and your medications. Anything you can do would be so appreciated--even if you just pass along this information to others who might be able to help.
Thank you so much.
Joss Noone
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P. S. from Vicki:
I want to thank everyone who has helped, whether by donating or sharing the link (or both). I never thought I would need to do something like this but I am so grateful for such caring colleagues and friends.
Several people have asked about our collective bargaining agreement. This was another shocking aspect of the situation. Below is the response I have sent a few times. Please let me know if you have any other ideas. Thanks again!
Response: The day I got that unbelievable e-mail from my dean, I got in touch with Jim Mahler at the AFT Guild office. He put me in touch with an attorney who works with him/the office, and that's when I found out the shocking and distressing news that adjuncts are not covered by the collective bargaining agreement. The woman who was our department secretary had told me there is a section on "due process," which I was never given, but Jim said that only applies to full-timers. I was stunned. Both Jim and the attorney said adjuncts are "at-will employees" and can be fired without cause, at any time, and there is no recourse. I've even spoken to a couple labor attorneys who have told me the same thing. I'm still shocked by all of this--I have never once been disciplined or warned or anything, so to be fired for this is just outrageous. I honestly had no idea there would be NO protection if I had an issue. I also had "priority of assignment" which, turns out, is just another joke. :(
If you've ever been to college or any other adult event, you know good and well that when the task is done people want to take off.
The dean never even had the decency to discuss any of this with her, despite her pristine employment record. All of a sudden, Vicki just couldn't log in to one of her accounts. The dean sent an impersonal e-mail to tell her she had been fired for "absence from her duty station"! What... was she supposed to be at the fries machine or something? Talk about unprofessional and cowardly!
The problem is that adjunct instructors are considered "at-will employees" so there is no one to protect them. Twenty-plus years and NO ONE to protect her from this ridiculous and petty act!?
The urgent need is to keep her COBRA insurance so she can continue getting her life-saving medicine. It will cost less to pay the $659 for COBRA than to get new insurance on the marketplace. The cheapest we found was $634 a month with a $6,000 deductible plus who knows how much for the prescriptions. Just one of them, Spiriva (for chronic bronchitis which was exacerbated last summer when the Holy Fire was so close to her home and she was put on supplemental oxygen), would cost over $400 a month.
Asking for help is not something Vicki wanted to do but she desperately needs help until she is covered again, and we all know the scheduling situations with schools, not to mention the difficulty of finding one that offers insurance. That is why I offered to start this funding for her. She will need at least a few months of coverage at this point, so I have set the goal at $3,000.
Can you please help? Even the equivalent of one Starbucks run would make a huge difference. And remember, especially if you are an adjunct, you are not protected (don't be fooled by that collective bargaining agreement or priority of assignment status--neither will do a thing for you!) and this could be you at any moment, possibly fighting for your life and your medications. Anything you can do would be so appreciated--even if you just pass along this information to others who might be able to help.
Thank you so much.
Joss Noone
---------------------------------------------------------
P. S. from Vicki:
I want to thank everyone who has helped, whether by donating or sharing the link (or both). I never thought I would need to do something like this but I am so grateful for such caring colleagues and friends.
Several people have asked about our collective bargaining agreement. This was another shocking aspect of the situation. Below is the response I have sent a few times. Please let me know if you have any other ideas. Thanks again!
Response: The day I got that unbelievable e-mail from my dean, I got in touch with Jim Mahler at the AFT Guild office. He put me in touch with an attorney who works with him/the office, and that's when I found out the shocking and distressing news that adjuncts are not covered by the collective bargaining agreement. The woman who was our department secretary had told me there is a section on "due process," which I was never given, but Jim said that only applies to full-timers. I was stunned. Both Jim and the attorney said adjuncts are "at-will employees" and can be fired without cause, at any time, and there is no recourse. I've even spoken to a couple labor attorneys who have told me the same thing. I'm still shocked by all of this--I have never once been disciplined or warned or anything, so to be fired for this is just outrageous. I honestly had no idea there would be NO protection if I had an issue. I also had "priority of assignment" which, turns out, is just another joke. :(
Organizer
Joss Noone
Organizer
Menifee, CA
