Stand up for Yves Magloe: a note on mental illness and discrimination

In the California Community College system, as in most other places in American higher education, it isn't easy to fire a professor with tenure.  There are only a handful of justifications for doing so: a felony conviction is one, and "abandonment" is another.  In my thirteen years of teaching here at PCC, the last eight as a tenured instructor, I haven't seen any of my colleagues dismissed.  Until now.

I don't know most of my fellow professors in other departments on campus.  I certainly didn't know Yves Magloe, a professor who taught in the languages division for several years -- the last few with tenure.  Last fall, Magloe (who suffers from bipolar disorder) experienced a severe episode of depression.  According to our campus paper:

In November 2005, Magloe, an ESL instructor, who takes medication to manage a bipolar condition, suffered a manic episode. "I lost control and it was part of the pathology," said Magloe "When I lost control I stopped taking my medication, and that made things worse."

"I was sick and that is all there is to it," said Magloe, who was hospitalized for little less than a month. "People get ill and the [administration] has been unsympathetic."

As a full time faculty member, Magloe needed to report to human resources that he would be taking personal time off. He went to human resources in 2005 before the end of the fall semester and filled out some of the necessary paper work, which he did not complete. When Magloe took time off human resources then took it as "abandonment."

"He fell through the cracks," said associate professor of English Brock Klein. "I tried to talk to him, but due to his mental health he was not able to make any type of difficult decisions."

The college isn't commenting, but the union and the faculty are up in arms.  I would have been up in arms, but such is the provincialism of this department that I only learned of what had happened to Professor Magloe when I read the campus newspaper last week.

I make no secret of the fact that I've had some serious troubles of my own.  In my first four years at PCC, I was hospitalized three times.  Without getting into specific details, I was struggling with both mental illness and addiction; on two occasions those struggles almost cost me my life.  Twice I was hospitalized for an extended period in a private locked mental hospital; it was in the last of these places that I experienced the spiritual epiphany that I touched on last Thursday.

What made me different from Yves Magloe was not the severity of my condition or the length of my hospitalization (though part of two of my hospitalizations took place during summer vacations).  What made me different was that friends of mine were able to notify my division dean and others about my problem.  As a result, extended leave was requested on my behalf.  Magloe apparently did not have anyone available to do that for him.  Today, I am still tenured and teaching happily -- and years removed from the time when I wrestled with demons.  Magloe, on the other hand, is facing poverty, about to have his medical benefits cut off.

I don't see myself as a crusader for mental health issues, but every once in a while, when something like this happens, I am reminded of how tragic our continued societal double standard is.  If Magloe had missed class with heart trouble, and been unable to contact his department, he would not have been terminated.  If he had been struggling against cancer, or injured in a car crash, no one would have considered him to have "abandoned" his post.  But where mental illness is concerned, a powerful misunderstanding remains.  Someone suffering from bipolar disorder (or other similar problems) is judged accountable for his missed time in a way that someone suffering from a more obvious physiological injury is not.  I don't know the law well enough to know if it's illegal to do what our Human Resources department has done, but it sure as hell is immoral!  And it sends a terrible message to those folks in the community who are battling -- or who have loved ones who are battling -- the very serious problem of mental illness.

You can email the college president, James Kossler, here.

You can email the head of human resources, Jorge Aguiniga, here.

Contact the board of trustees by going here.

Comments

[Lisa]

That's really difficult to accept, a man with an obvious disorder is fired for "abandoning his post." I think he needs an attorney, I'm going to send messages on his behalf as soon as I can.

[sly civilian]

So sad. I've been so extraordinarily blessed in my struggles with mental illness to have the support, treatment, and choices available i needed. It has nothing to do with being better suited to academia, or a stronger person...or anything like that. It has to do with luck. Nothing more.

[Hugo]

Indeed, sly, it is all luck. In my many years of struggle, I always had a loving family and first-rate health insurance. Those two things, more than anything else (other than God's grace), guaranteed my survival.

[isabella mori]

right now i am involved with fundraising for the weekend to end breast cancer, a huge fundraising effort that requires each walking participant to raise $2,000 in order to be allowed to walk. it is fascinating how a "sexy" project such as breast cancer actually makes it relatively easy to raise that much money. everyone buys in happily - from my very out there GLBT friends to my husband's very mainstream blue-collar co-workers.

okay now. can you imagine the same for ANY kind of mental illness or developmental disorders, even something as "tame" as ADD, phobias or autism? i can't. many people are afraid of mental illness -so they are willing to distance themselves as much as possible from anyone who might "infect" them with it. so until we've educated people better, we won't have any huge fundraising successes for mental illnesses anytime soon, and we'll continue to have people like your colleague be punished for getting sick.

p.s. i'm definitely not complaining about the breastcancer fundraising; it's a very important cause.

[Joel Sax]

Today, at my new health club, I took a risk and told my personal trainer that I was on Lithium. "I'm not putting that on there," she said. "A little knowledge...."

I got lucky. But I know how stupid even educated people can be about bipolar disorder. When people ask in support groups whether they should come "out" or not, the answer is usually "Be very very careful". It's like being gay except the stigma is much much worse. (Gay bipolars confirm this.)

What was asked of Magloe was almost like asking a man with no legs to walk up a flight of stairs to get his approval. The school seems stuck in Victorian England where it has all manner of technology but no compassion.

And some people wonder why many of us who suffer from mental illness do not return to work.

[Hugo]

What was asked of Magloe was almost like asking a man with no legs to walk up a flight of stairs to get his approval.

Well said, Joel; I would surely only have "come out" in this manner with the protection of tenure and in the confidence that I have been asymptomatic for a long time. Thanks for blogging this.

[Xrlq]

Definitely the guy should hire a lawyer. One of the unintended consequences of near-fireproof employment is pretextual firing for "abandonment" where the real reason is something else. Maybe they really don't like the guy's teaching, or maybe he pissed a few bigwigs off; who knows?

[Joel Sax]

Hugo: Thank you. I got a strange comment on my site which research proved came from the Georgia Department of Education. I read it as another "you bipolars are a bunch of spongers". I'd like them to try the disease for a week in high mania.

Xrlq: Probably so. It could be that his being bipolar was the thing they wanted to get rid of him for, however.

[Ralph Luker]

Hugo, I've sent links to both the college newspaper story and to your post to the editor of Inside Higher Ed. It's possible you'll get some national attention on this situation.

[Hugo]

Thanks, Ralph -- the board of trustees is meeting tomorrow (Wednesday), and I'll report.

[Jonathan Dresner]

Legal opinions vary, but it might well be worth bringing up the Americans with Disabilities Act "reasonable accomodation" issue: diagnosed mental illness does qualify as a disability, I think, in most cases. The firing is probably contestable, and I suspect it's illegal, under the circumstances.

[James]

Hugo,

Thanks for the great post. I hope you'll allow a departure from the main gist for a moment, as it is obvious there are at least a few bipolar sufferers tracking this post. It is to these people I'd like to ask a question.

I have a family member who is bipolar, who for the past 3 years or so has had serious difficulty controlling the illness. For 15+ years lithium proved an effective control, however in the process it apparently damaged his liver/kidneys, forcing the docs to try other methods. None of these new meds, nor the new & improved version of electric shock therapy has been able to keep him from a series of hospital stays.

Do any of you have knowledge of similar cases and what was done to treat them? I hate to secondguess doctors, but even more I hate watching the strain this uncontrolled disease is placing on the family.

Again, Hugo, thanks for your patience.

[James]

Sorry about the typo in my above email "address". It was corrected here.

[Lynn Gazis-Sax]

We have someone in our family group who's been going through that with a family member. It's unfortunate that people can't always stay on the medication that works best for them. Sometimes people find a new medicine that works better than anything else, but then run into problems getting it covered (since medicines that aren't generic yet are expensive); other times someone is no longer able to tolerate a tried and true medicine like lithium. And unfortunately, sometimes nothing works quite as well as the medicine you can no longer take. I'll check, though, with my husband (Joel, who commented above), and see whether he has any ideas.

[Joel Sax]

I understand your frustration. Unfortunately, meds sometimes give us side effects and sometimes they stop working.

Second opinions are fair play in psychiatry as they are in all of medicine. Also be aware that it may take up to eight years to find the right cocktail for your son's condition. I was not properly diagnosed with the disorder for 11 years (they put me on antidepressants -- ouch! -- but I hold no grudges). That you get the right medicine right from the start and keep that medicine is very unusual.

What your psychiatrist will give depends on your son's condition. As I said before, there is no harm seeking a second opinion when the first psychiatrist seems stuck in the water. You may get some insight that you didn't get from the first one. You may get the comfort of knowing that the first psychiatrist is on a reasonable track.

I will mention one medication that I use with others: Lamictal which is a mood-stabilizing anti-convulsant. (That means it is both useful for epilepsy and for Type 2 Bipolar disorder.) This med balanced out my depressive cycles very well. If your son is not allergic to it, it may be the med for him. Ask, but let his psychiatrist make the call.

I wish you well and welcome you to my blog anytime. There are other bipolars there who understand and support the needs of our kind. We overwhelmingly want to feel better.

[elizabeth]

"okay now. can you imagine the same for ANY kind of mental illness or developmental disorders, even something as "tame" as ADD, phobias or autism? i can't. many people are afraid of mental illness"

Yes there is - it is called Walk Through the Night and is about suidice awareness - it occurs in several cities thoughout the US and is a 20 mile walk through the night and into the light.

[Anonymous]

I used to teach. I wanted to change careers sooner, but teaching was the only job that covered my expenses (therapy, Rx) without a waiting period. I'm 32 and I had to move back home to go to school full-time. My COBRA insurance is $337 a month (just for me).

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