Teacher Sues School For Discrimination Against Her Disability… Fear of Children?

Here's one from the "Are you kidding me?" file. Maria Waltherr-Willard of Greenhills, Ohio is a 61-year-old Spanish teacher in Ohio. And she's suing the Mariemont school district for discriminating against her disability. Her disability, are you ready for this one... A FEAR OF CHILDREN.

Yes, she's a teacher who suffers from pedophobia, which is an extreme fear of children. Maria claims she's been able to teach for the past 35 years because her fear is only of young children, and she had been teaching high school. But in 2010, the district transferred her to middle school, and apparently those kids are a little too young.

Her lawsuit has documents from her doctor, psychiatrist, and psychologist that say Maria has stress, anxiety, chest pains, vomiting, nightmares, and high blood pressure when she's near young children. There's no word on how much she's seeking in the lawsuit. If the suit isn't settled and it goes to trial, it will start in February of next year.

This makes as much sense as a claustrophobic chimney sweep, or a pilot with a fear of heights. In my humble opinion, anyone suffering from this 'fear of children' should look into a career that doesn't involve children, perhaps working at a retirement home.