Craig Harris

The Republic | azcentral.com

Adobe Mountain has fired, revoked the medical benefits of a 36-year-old teacher with breast cancer

Juvenile Corrections Director Dona Marie Markley says woman 'resigned'

An award-winning teacher diagnosed with late-stage breast cancer said the Arizona Department of Juvenile Corrections fired her this week when she was unable to return to Adobe Mountain School because a staph infection had not fully healed and her unpaid medical leave expired.

The state agency considers her departure an involuntary resignation because she was unable for health reasons to perform her duties, said Matthew Contorelli, a Juvenile Corrections spokesman.

Tarah Ausburn, 36, said she is now out of a $57,000-a-year job and, more importantly, without medical benefits. Juvenile Corrections on Tuesday confirmed it had revoked her health insurance, which covered the cost of her cancer treatment.

"I have no idea what I'm going to do," Ausburn said. "All I want is my job back."

Though Ausburn said some of her co-workers recently wrote Gov. Doug Ducey about the situation, his spokesman Daniel Scarpinato said the Governor's Office was unaware of Ausburn's situation and instructed the state's Human Resources Division to conduct an investigation. The inquiry was ongoing late Thursday.

Ausburn's story first appeared Wednesday evening on azcentral. It prompted at least 22 emails Thursday to Ducey's office, all copied to The Arizona Republic, calling on the governor to order her rehiring at Adobe Mountain.

"It's bad enough she has to battle breast cancer, but to be treated badly by her employer is unconscionable," one email writer said. "Ultimately — as the state is her employer — the buck stops with you."

Said another email writer: "This poor woman is being treated like an animal by the state and basically being sent home to die."

Ducey has made no decision on Ausburn's fate.

Firing comes amid exodus of workers

Ausburn's firing comes amid what she described as an exodus of educators at the state-run juvenile prison in north Phoenix. Ausburn said at least 10 other educators have quit, some blaming their departures on ongoing poor treatment of Ausburn and a caustic work environment. A Juvenile Corrections spokesman declined to confirm Ausburn's statements or disclose how many employees had quit.

Ausburn's dismissal also comes following accusations by women from other state agencies that they too were fired without cause. In interviews, The Republic has been told at least 20 women, minorities and those older than 40 have been involuntarily separated from state employment.

TO DONATE:A GoFundMe account has been created for fired teacher

The Republic sought state records regarding the gender, ethnicity and age of the nearly 1,400 state employees terminated since Ducey took office to determine if those claims were true.

The Department of Administration has refused to release the records sought, citing privacy concerns. Scarpinato labelled as untrue allegations that certain classes of state employees have been terminated, saying Ducey's administration has worked to foster a culture of opportunity, inclusion and respect.

'They see my case as a financial burden'

Juvenile Corrections Director Dona Marie Markley would not answer questions regarding Ausburn's dismissal or any of the reported resignations at Adobe Mountain.

But Contorelli said the agency considered Ausburn's departure a resignation, citing a state personnel rule that allows the agency head to "consider the failure or inability of an employee to return to work" after an approved leave without pay as a resignation. He declined to answer additional questions, but said public records were available regarding Ausburn's departure. The Republic requested those records Wednesday and Thursday, but they had not been provided.

Ausburn, an exempt employee who is on salary, said she did not resign. She said she physically could not return to work Monday, her scheduled return date, because she didn't have clearance from her doctor.

Ausburn, who was undergoing additional medical procedures Thursday, spends about 2½ hours on a daily basis in oxygen therapy to heal radiation wounds from her cancer treatment. She said she was willing to stay on unpaid leave while recovering from cancer treatment, but needed her state health insurance benefits. The firing also cancelled a supplemental state cancer insurance policy that covered medication not included in her regular health plan, she said.

"They see my case as a financial burden," Ausburn said. "There is such a lack of humanity and compassion. But it's not just me. They have treated other employees this way … If you are losing more than half of your staff in a year, there is a problem."

Former employees: Conditions intolerable

Contorelli issued a statement saying Juvenile Corrections "values every member of our agency and strives to cultivate a positive working environment in which all can succeed. We are committed to the fair and equal treatment of all employees and maintain strict compliance with all federal employment laws; all federal and state anti-discrimination laws; and all state laws, rules and policies governing personnel matters."

Several of Ausburn's former co-workers said Markley and agency officials behaved cruelly by firing Ausburn. They said they recently quit because of how Ausburn was treated and how intolerable working conditions became.

"She is by far the best teacher I ever supervised," said Carissa Harvey, a former assistant principal at Adobe who quit last month. "She challenges kids to think outside the box."

Christie Jenemabi, a colon cancer survivor who recently began having complications related to her illness, said she quit in late June because she didn't want to be treated like Ausburn.

"I tried to envision it was going to be OK. But watching what they did to Tarah and the amount of stress they placed on her, I had to give up my job rather than take a risk while I was trying to get better," Jenemabi said.

Michelle Cassavaugh, a psychologist who quit last month, said Adobe Mountain administrators repeatedly refused to accommodate Ausburn's requests to leave work early to attend radiation treatment.

Ausburn said she offered to work through her lunch or make up the time later, but her requests were denied. Ausburn added that before she was diagnosed with cancer she worked numerous hours outside of a typical work day, but was never paid overtime because she's classified as an exempt employee.

Claims of unfair treatment leveled

Ausburn began working at the north Phoenix school in October 2011, teaching English. She received an award during the 2013-14 school year for "exceeding the normal demands of your position and exemplifying exceptional service and commitment."

In October 2015, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and had 21 lymph nodes removed. She then took 12 weeks off under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, and two additional weeks off without pay. She returned to Adobe Mountain in late February in order to keep her medical benefits.

Ausburn lost her hair during radiation treatment. She wore a pink wig when she went back on the job. Pink is the symbolic color for breast cancer survivors. But she said administrators refused to let her keep wearing the wig.

She said administrators also refused to let her wear head scarves unless they were black or navy blue.

Ausburn also said she wasn't allowed to take time off from work unless she missed an entire day, even if her doctor's appointments only lasted an hour. By being forced to take off an entire day of work, she quickly expended all of her sick leave.

Ausburn said she became ill again in July and was hospitalized with a staph infection she believes she came in contact with at Adobe Mountain. She was scheduled to return to work Monday, but was unable. She said her doctor told he would clear her to return after "four more days to heal," meaning she likely could have returned by Friday.

Ausburn said she believes Adobe Mountain administrators unfairly targeted her because she challenged them on actions she believed were violations of educational policies.

She has hired an attorney, but said she would prefer to not sue Adobe Mountain. She wants her job back.

The Republic last year found 57 cases of discrimination, harassment or retaliation within state government that cost taxpayers more than $6 million from 2009 to 2014.

Reach the reporter by email at craig.harris@arizonarepublic.com or by phone at (602) 444-8478.