Ohio teacher afraid of kids claims discrimination

Teacher suing for future pay, compensatory damages, punitive damages and attorneys' fee

MARIEMONT, Ohio – A teacher in Mariemont, Ohio is suing her school district, claiming discrimination., Maria Waltherr-Willard, suffers from pedophobia, a crippling fear of young children. She claims her disability led to the discrimination.Cincinnati.com reported the woman, who taught high school for years, was reassigned to teach in a junior high in 2010, despite, she claims, being assured earlier in her career that she would not have to teach younger children. When the district denied her request to transfer back to the high school for the 2010-2011 academic year, Waltherr-Willard was forced into early retirement at the age of 59, the suit claims. A federal judge has dismissed three of Walterr-Willard's claims in the suit, arguing that the district violated an implied contract to keep her away from young students. The three remaining discrimination claims are awaiting district response, and a tentative trial date is set for February 2014. Walterr-Willard seeks past and future pay, compensatory damages, punitive damages and attorneys' fees.

About Pedophobia

Recommended Videos



According to Pedophobia.com people who are diagnosed with this condition are termed Pedophobic. Persons suffering from this condition will fall into two main categories. There are Parents and Adults who have obsessive qualities and keep their children under routine and keen surveillance. These people want to keep an eye of their children and usually take extreme measures to do so; one such example is by following them and spending the day with them at school. There is another category of persons who literally have an irrational fear of children and have a fear of being in the presence of children. this category of persons shudder at the thought of being in the presence of children. A person who suffers from Pedophobia doesn't only have a fear of children but anything that represents children (e.g. dolls). Any object that is capable of making the person devise a direct relational link to children may become an object that is feared by persons suffering from Pedophobia. Persons who have this condition sometimes may have had bad experiences with children in their past, while in others their fear has no substantive basis and no logical connection to any past experience. This fear is said to be irrational but no less legitimate.

Symptoms of Pedophobia

Symptoms of Pedophobia consist of being scared, feeling anxious, feelings of dread of the thought of being in the presence of children and taking acute measures to avoid being or occupied in the midst of children.