A sad and difficult story in the widely respected Chronicle of Higher Education recounts the predicament of a prominent public university president whose spouse's allegedly harassing behavior and indiscrete public disclosures created a firestorm of public relations and performance issues for the president. The story's title “Now It's Complicated” neatly summed up the president's challenge. Whichever way the president turned, and whatever she tried to do, her university role seemed in terrible jeopardy. Her spouse had dug her a deep enough hole that she couldn't get out of it without separating. And separation was no guarantee that she would survive the university storm.

The Spouse Problem

Spouses are wonderful–until they aren't. No spouse is perfect, and no marriage is perfect. All spouses and marriages have their ups and downs. But at times, one spouse's issues can create special problems for the other spouse. When a spouse suffers a serious illness or injury, for instance, the other spouse may have substantial new care responsibilities not only for the suffering spouse but also for elderly parents or minor children. The healthy spouse may also lose important household, income, and social support from the suffering spouse. Those new responsibilities and losses can quickly affect the healthy spouse's school studies or employment. And when the other spouse engages in bizarre, intimidating, disruptive, offensive, or even criminal behaviors, the burdens on the school spouse may be more than the school spouse can bear.

The School's Interest

Colleges and universities certainly have a reasonable interest in the performance of their workforces and integrity of their academic programs. Schools maintain employment policies and student codes of conduct to ensure that students and employees meet reasonable expectations relating to performance and conduct. No one blames a school for enforcing student and employee policies. The issue arises only when a school begins to unfairly blame a student or employee for issues that only the student or employee's spouse has and that have not yet seriously affected the student or employee's own performance. Spouses can make a mess of things for the other spouse. But schools shouldn't worsen the problem.

The Defense Solution

If you face school disciplinary issues caused by your spouse's behavior, your best move is to retain highly qualified school discipline defense representation. Your retained defense attorney can help you prove to the school that you are not the source of the problem. Your retained attorney can also help you discern and structure measures to insulate your school studies or employment from the negative impacts of your spouse's situation.

Retain School Discipline Defense

National school discipline defense attorney Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm's Defense Team are available nationwide to help you defend and defeat unjust disciplinary charges arising out of your spouse's behavior. Don't let your school hold you accountable for another's conduct. Call 888.535.3686 or go online now to retain Attorney Lento.