‘Unheard and unsupported:’ Teacher, STF at odds over disability claim

Brooke Breti used to be outgoing, enthusiastic and not really scared of anything, but all that has changed after an incident more than a year ago with the Grade 6 class she taught.

“I have triggers with my concentration and my sleep that have been affected. The thought of returning to a classroom, the job I love, is just hard right now. I think the struggle for me is it’s a mental disability and not a physical one,” explained Breti.

“Visible disabilities are easier to see and understand, but for me this is a mental disability and it’s been really hard to navigate.”

Breti’s been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but that’s not her only fight. She also has been denied long-term disability twice by a committee under the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation (STF).

The incident

In November 2022, Breti took her class on a trip to Regina from a school outside the city. She detailed what happened in documents filed with the STF and the courts.

During lunch that day with the class, a student approached Breti and told her quietly that another student had a gun.

Breti quickly took action, asking the student in question to go out to the bus with her, getting them away from the other students and members of the public.

Once on the bus, she put herself between the driver and the student and asked for the gun. The student handed it over and ran off. Breti called 911 and tried to catch the student, but police arrived and found the student nearby.

Other students said the student in question had taken the gun out on the bus, pointing it at their heads and threatening to kill them.

Breti only found out later it was a BB gun – she said it looked real.

In a statement, Breti wrote that she was told by police the student’s parents didn’t feel they did anything wrong and they wouldn’t be getting counselling. The student was moved to another school, and another student who’d been involved was suspended for 10 days.

Breti wrote she was glad she put others’ safety first, but now she realizes she could have been shot. She spent the next several days going over what happened and thinking about how lucky she was to be alive.

She was traumatized by the incident and was diagnosed with PTSD. Tests on the Sheehan Disability Scale put her at highly impaired, and she had moderately severe and severe scores in tests for depression and anxiety, respectively. However, that was just the beginning of her ordeal.

Disability

Disability benefits for teachers are administered by the STF, the same group that acts as a union for those teachers. Teachers pay union and benefit dues out of their paycheques and the federation has a framework set up for the administration of the coverage.

The STF declined to comment on Breti’s situation, or to explain how its system works more broadly.

Breti feels there’s a conflict here. As her union, she feels the STF should have been supporting and advocating for her, but instead she has only felt pressured to return to work.

She wasn’t able to return to a classroom or even a school after the incident without a severe reaction. She tried to go back to make plans for substitute teachers but just thinking about it left her in tears and unable to leave the house. So Breti went on short-term disability.

While on disability, she would get a call once a month from the federation.

“I felt a lot of pressure to return to the classroom setting. For example, at one point, the rehabilitation consultant insisted that I do exposure therapy against all medical practitioner advice,” said Breti.

She said those calls were very triggering for her and she would have to sit by herself with the lights off for a couple hours afterward to pull herself back together; she got emotional even talking about them.

Breti began seeing a psychologist a few weeks later – the soonest she could get an appointment – and started work on her recovery. She ended up having regular appointments with a psychiatrist and counsellor, and has been seeing a naturopath to deal with her symptoms without medication.

Multiple assessments and documents from several different medical professionals provided by Breti confirm her presentation with PTSD symptoms, discussing her treatment, and her inability to return to a classroom setting. One assessment said it would be to her detriment to return to the same working environment.

Breti said her work limitation is around being in a classroom, and had suggested multiple times through the STF’s process that she could return to a position that isn’t in a classroom such as working in an office or teaching online, but no positions have been made available.

Breti said her medical team is interested in her taking small steps towards returning, but she said those accommodations haven’t been offered either.

“I was told that I am a teacher, and the role of the teacher is to instruct students in a classroom, full time,’” said Breti.

Long-term disability

After a few months, Breti tried to make the shift from short-term to long-term disability, but was denied and her benefits cut off.

In June 2023, the long-term disability committee decided her case doesn’t meet the criteria of total disability required for long-term benefits so her claim was closed.

The letter sent to her about the decision gave a list of reasons including that she refused to take part in the exposure therapy recommended by the consultant – something Breti said her medical team had advised against.

While she’s been off work, Breti has continued working on and finished a master’s program, working online only. The committee used that against her, saying it demonstrates her capacity to work.

It also brought up a job offer that was floated to her as a possibility shortly after the incident happened. She declined because she hadn’t yet been assessed and didn’t know what her treatment plan would look like.

The committee also used against her the fact she had said she would be able to work if she was in an office or teaching online, even though no accommodation has been offered or position available.

Breti appealed but the committee came back with the same decision, saying the limitations she had don’t result in the incapacity she would need for total disability. So she’s taken the situation to court – a case that could end up dragging on for years.

She said the STF handles the appeals process and believes that decisions, because they’re made internally, could be influenced.

An ongoing situation

Others might have given up already and found something else to do after running into such roadblocks, but Breti said she still wants to teach.

“I have two master’s (degrees). I’ve invested my life to teaching. I love students,” she explained. “I just think that this incident happened at work, and I got PTSD because of it, so I think the STF should still accommodate and help me with that process.”

Breti said having to deal with the claims process, and now the court process, has been very difficult.

“It’s just been really hard. My concentration is lacking and sleep, of course. I feel (shame) and guilt,” she said.

She hasn’t had a full paycheque in more than a year, and hasn’t had any pay coming in since June. Breti has been surviving on support from her family and her mortgage insurance – which she said has readily accepted her PTSD diagnosis and her need.

“I find it ironic that the same union that negotiates for teachers – that are supposed to be on the teachers’ team – is also denying me long-term disability coverage,” she said.

Breti decided to speak out about her issues, saying she wants to help anyone else who also feels they’ve been silenced.

“I wonder if other teachers also felt unheard and unsupported when it comes to mental health,” said Breti.

She said one day she hopes there’s no longer a stigma around speaking up about mental health.