Teacher fired for missing 20 years of work

WASHINGTON (TND) — Missing too much work often leads to termination. At least, for most people.

That wasn't the case for Italian teacher Cinzia Paolina De Lio, who finally lost her teaching job after missing 20 of the past 24 years of work. You read that right.

Initially, De Lio was fired in 2017 from her Venice-are school for the absences but she sued, and in 2018, courts ruled that she must be reinstated.

The case eventually went all the way to the Italian Supreme Court, which last week overturned her reinstatement by rejecting her argument that she had a "right to teach."

The courts argued back that her students have the "right to learn" and that it was her responsibility to guarantee those rights.

The court ruled De Lio is "permanently and absolutely unsuitable" for the job.

De Lio has promised to tell her side of the story. She claims she has papers to prove her story, but when a reporter from Repubblica, an Italian newspaper reached out, she said:

Sorry, but right now, I'm at the beach. I will reconstruct the truth of the facts of this absolutely unique and surreal story. I don't answer questions from journalists thrown around that wouldn't do justice to the truth of my story."

So how does someone miss 20 out of 24 years of work?

Reports say De Lio, who taught philosophy and literature, used holiday time, sick time, travel to conferences, personal time and family reasons for missing two decades on the job.

De Lio's students say on the rare occasion she did show up to work, she had no interest in teaching. Some students refused to take part in class because she "was too distracted by her phone." Students also complained that she was not prepared or attentive during class and her lessons were "confusing."

Complaints also said De Lio would hand out grades at random, not following proper protocol.