Recently, Allison has been struggling rather badly with an organization known as Vocational Rehabilitation. Her son is autistic, and while he’s extremely high-functioning, he’s going to require some assistance as he prepares to begin college and take his first steps toward getting and keeping a job.
We join the story at a point where it has already been a frustrating comedy of errors. A meeting was held in order to discuss the results of an evaluation. While Allison, like most teachers, can read, these folks thought it best that she take a day off from work, requiring her to find her own substitute teacher and risk making an already touchy administrator unhappy, so that the report could be read to her. To add insult to injury, the information that was most needed and most time-sensitive was not available, although no one mentioned that.
After several fruitless communications aimed at getting better service, Allison wrote a rather strongly-worded but still quite professional e-mail to the Vocational Rehabilitation counselor, who would probably not want me to mention that her name is Lisa Engelhart. There was no harsh language, but she made it very clear that she was dissatisfied with the constant missed deadlines, wasted time, and lack of urgency since there were college registration deadlines involved.
In a moment, the following disclaimer, which appears at the bottom of Engelhart’s e-mail to Allison and is therefore included in Allison’s own e-mail, will take on a certain significance.
**********************************************************************************************
GDOL CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This transmission may contain confidential information
protected by state or federal law. The information is intended only for use consistent
with the state business discussed in this transmission. If you are not the intended
recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution, or the
taking of any action based on the contents is strictly prohibited. If you have received
this transmission in error, please delete this email and notify the sender
immediately.Your cooperation is appreciated.
**********************************************************************************************
Here’s where it gets interesting. Lisa Engelhart apparently has a personal therapist, who would probably not want you to know that his name is Ron Fisher, Ph.D. or that he is founder and director of the Center for Professional & Personal Growth, Inc. Lisa Engelhart forwarded Allison’s E-mail as well as her own to her therapist, complete and unedited.
As if that weren’t a stupid enough mistake, Dr. Fisher apparently got a great chuckle out of the whole thing and replied, calling Allison the “parent from hell.” Unfortunately, the therapist from hell managed to hit “Reply All,” and the reply went to Allison, too.
You know that feeling you get when someone’s just tripped and fallen in a comical way? That feeling that you really are sorry and hope no one got seriously hurt, but that sure was funny! That’s about the feeling I’m getting now. Engelhart has been caught with her pants down forwarding confidential correspondence to a third party, and Fisher just broke doctor-patient confidentiality, so he’s in hot water with both Engelhart and Allison!
Ah, the joy of life in these United States.
Down, damned emotions! Writing this on my phone is not working out at all. To be continued. Maybe.
[Edited to add guard David Boling's name.]
Every now and then, this blog serves as an outlet for one of my incidents of otherwise intractable outrage.
Some time ago, I wrote a blog entry about the death of Victoria Snelgrove at the hands of an overzealous Boston police officer using something described as a “less lethal” weapon. At the time, I was apoplectic with anger at the loss of an innocent bystander, particularly one so young.
I recently looked into the outcome of that case, prompted by a recent event in the news. District Attorney Daniel F. Conley decided not to prosecute any of the police officers involved in the incident. Rochefort Milien, the officer who killed Snelgrove, got away with a 45-day suspension without pay for “using poor judgement and excessive force,” and was probably back out shooting bystanders before his next union-mandated pay raise. Additional depressing details are available in this 2005 story from The Boston Globe.
The event which prompted me to look back on all this is even more depressing. We did not even hear about it when it happened; perhaps it took place on a busy news day, or perhaps it was effectively kept under wraps. A lawsuit filed this week, though, has catapulted the story to national attention.
In April, 2007 at the Woman’s Hospital of Texas in Houston, William Lewis and his wife had just taken delivery, so to speak, of their baby girl, Karla. For reasons yet to be made public, the Lewis family felt they were being mistreated by hospital staff, and they wished to leave. As is usually to be expected, hospital staff discouraged them from leaving so soon after the birth, but Lewis was having none of it. The couple simply wanted to take their child and go, which is of course their right.
At this point, Lewis picked up the child and the couple moved toward the elevators. Lewis was confronted by a hospital staff member and told that he could not leave, and that security would be called if he tried. Meanwhile, the baby’s RFID wristband shut down the elevator.
Off-duty Houston police officer David Boling, in his capacity as a security guard, responded along with another guard. Security cameras captured what followed, although no sound was recorded. Lewis and the security guard talked briefly, the child still in Lewis’ arms. The consensus among witnesses is that Lewis was belligerent and defiant but not physically threatening. Boling then made the incomprehensible decision to do the unthinkable.
Boling, who had entered the scene with a Taser in his hand, fired it at Lewis. It hit him, and as anyone with more than two brain cells to rub together would expect, the child fell.
Lewis is no saint. He and his wife have a history of domestic violence. He wasn’t being particularly polite or cooperative with the guard or with hospital staff. I can’t bring myself to consider those facts relevant. Personally, I wouldn’t care if he were a convicted axe murderer and had threatened to kill the security guard with a pair of Metzenbaum scissors. Nothing excuses Tasering a man holding a newborn infant.
The baby is now exhibiting neurological effects, and the parents claim the fall caused them. As in most legal battles today, the winner will probably be the party who can afford the best legal representation, but in my opinion, it’s certainly possible that a causal relationship exists between Karla’s fall and her condition.
A spokesman for the Houston Police Department said that they did not investigate the security guard’s role in the incident. Is anyone surprised?
Tasers have gotten some very bad press recently, as have many so-called “less lethal” weapons. While it’s often been difficult to prove a direct causal link between a Taser shock and the victim’s subsequent death, it’s undisputed that many people in the last few years have died soon after such shocks by law enforcement officers. A 2004 story published by CBS News counted seventy such cases. UPI reported on a Chicago case just last week.
To me, these “less lethal” weapons, which often appear to have very lethal effects, represent a frightening trend. Officers consider the weapons harmless, and that perception leads them to use them in situations where the justification is weaker. Police wouldn’t fire a bullet at a man for being drunken and belligerent, but they’ll gladly Taser such a man just to avoid having to wrestle him into handcuffs. When the man subsequently dies, we have to wonder if he would still be alive had police considered the Taser truly dangerous. To put it another way, should a man lose his life to save a police officer a bloody nose or a torn shirt?
Would Victoria Snelgrove still be alive had officer Milien known that the pellet gun in his hands could kill if used carelessly? Would Milien have used his firearm in the same situation?
The words “criminally stupid” come to mind. How this guard was never investigated or prosecuted is beyond my comprehension. I hope public attention brings justice in this case.