Can You Be Fired for Mental Illness? The Case of Dallas D.A. Susan Hawk

Dallas District Attorney Susan Hawk may lose her job due to past struggles with mental illness. (Photo: David Woo/The Dallas Morning News via AP)

Can an employee be ousted for suffering from mental health issues, or is mental illness protected as a disability? The laws aren’t always clear, as is highlighted by an unusual case being heard today (Jan. 8) in Texas.

Susan Hawk, who has served as Dallas’ district attorney since early 2015, is at risk of losing her job if prosecutors can argue that she acted incompetently in her role and is unfit for the job. This is where the case gets complicated: In October, Hawk announced that she has struggled with severe depression (a condition that a former employee claims led to misconduct in her office), but has undergone treatment and says she’s more than fit to serve.

The local case stands to set a precedent for whether prosecutors elsewhere will in the future be able to argue that a mental illness has hindered someone’s judgement and is grounds for firing or removal.

The prosecution, backed by affidavits from others who worked in the DA’s office, claims that Hawk was erratic and “mentally incompetent” after she took office in early 2015. Former employees call her behavior bizarre, saying that she fired people at random and seemed to suffer from delusional paranoia before she left to seek treatment. In August, Hawk took an unexplained two-month break from office; she later announced that she spent the time in a treatment program for severe depression, and had made plans to kill herself before her break. In a last-minute move on Jan. 7, 12 of Hawk’s employees came forward to say that Hawk has been a successful DA since her return, and they oppose any efforts to remove her from office.

Related: Study Finds 1 in 5 Americans Lives With a Mental Illness

While serious mental illnesses are not uncommon (an estimated 4.2 percent of American adults dealt with a serious mental illness in 2014), using mental health as a grounds for political removal is extremely rare. (“Frankly, we don’t know what exactly is going to happen,” the state-appointed prosecutor told the Washington Post. “We’re not even certain who has the burden of proof. Or which side goes first in court.”) If this case moves forward, and Hawk is removed from office, mental health advocates say this could set dangerous grounds for Americans to be fired for mental health struggles.

Mental illnesses are called illnesses for a reason — they’re involuntary, and treatment takes time and effort. Blaming someone for a chemical imbalance makes as much sense as blaming a cancer patient for a tumor. That’s what Hawk’s lawyers are arguing: “In this country, we embrace the notion that when one of our fellow citizens gets ill, we support their efforts to get treatment and applaud their recoveries,” attorney Douglas Alexander has said. “Just as it would be contemptible to oust an elected official who must absent herself from work to successfully undergo chemotherapy for cancer, it is equally contemptible to try to oust DA Hawk for successfully undergoing treatment for a mental illness.”

Related: Watch One Woman Explain the Challenges of Treating Mental Illness With Medication

On the other hand, though, if Hawk was abusing her power and making poor decisions, should she be removed from office? If the answer is yes, Hawk’s lawyers have argued, it could lead people to hide mental illnesses for fear of being fired. “If Susan Hawk is terminated in this case, we’re essentially saying that she should be fired because she suffered from mental illness,” Alexander told the Washington Post. “What message does that send to other professionals who may encounter depression – that they should keep it under wraps? Not get treatment?”

A judge will decide today whether the case can move forward. If it’s shut down, it’s a win for Hawk and mental health advocates. If it moves forward, Hawk faces removal, and both legal teams head into uncharted territory. A jury will have to decide whether the state has the power to remove someone from office for decisions allegedly influenced by a mental illness, setting precedent for future cases.

Given the progress made in recent years — both in understanding and treating mental illness — this case could, and should, lead to better policies on how mental health is handled in the workplace.

Read This Next: 15 Things Not to Say to Someone With a Mental Illness

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