ANDOVER — A special education teacher’s complaint that she lost her job at West Elementary School over the cost of her son’s cancer treatments will be reviewed by a state panel.

Jacquelyn Silvani said she received a letter from the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination advising her that Andover Public Schools “didn’t provide anything to cause them to believe that this wasn’t retaliatory.” She received notice of the probable cause finding last week, she said.

"It's great and it is sad at the same time, but I am hoping that it helps other families going forward who are in our same situation, striving to set a precedent for families like ours," she said.

Silvani's lawyer, Susanne Hafer, has said that a finding for her client could entitle Silvani to millions of dollars in damages for emotional distress, back pay, possibly front pay and attorneys’ fees.

"We appreciate the MCAD’s careful attention to this case," Hafer wrote in an email. "The probable cause decision is a recognition of the seriousness and strength of Ms. Silvani’s case. This decision places us one step closer to remedying the harm that Ms. Silvani has suffered as a result of her unlawful termination."

Andover Public Schools continues to dispute Silvani's claims about her termination. Candace Hall, the district’s human resources director, stressed that the commission has only found probable cause.

"Which means that they want us all to come in and answer questions about the case,” said Hall. “They did not find enough to make a decision one way or the other."

"We stand by the fact that we have a very different fact pattern than the one presented,” Hall added.

Silvani, Hafer, school district representatives and an investigator from the commission will meet at 10 a.m., July 25, for a conciliation conference, according to the letter sent to Silvani.

The letter states that the parties will discuss a settlement.

"Parties should make good faith effort toward resolution during these preliminary settlement discussions, and are encouraged to make reasonable settlement offers and demands," the letter states.

However, Hall said the meeting is being held so that an investigator can ask questions as part of an ongoing inquiry. Hall said the meeting is not being held to discuss a settlement.

Silvani's termination

Silvani filed a complaint with the commission after she was terminated in 2016. She believes she was let go because of the expense of her son's cancer treatments, which she said cost the privately-insured district $1,091,794.

At the time Silvani lost her job, her son Joseph was 3 and undergoing treatment. He had been diagnosed with stage IV neuroblastoma — a rare cancer that affects children, usually starting in the kidneys before spreading to the rest of the body -- in summer 2015.

Upon learning of her son's diagnosis, Silvani requested a leave of absence from West Elementary to care for him. Her leave was granted. However, when she notified the district in March 2016 of her plan to return, she was told Title I funding for the position had been cut and she would not be rehired.

Silvani claims the job was posted months later. She applied to three openings with the district in the summer of 2016, she said, and was interviewed for one but ultimately not rehired. Had she been re-hired, she would have become tenured.

Hafer has said the case is one of associational discrimination because of Joseph’s illness. Now 5, he is in remission, and Silvani is working at Sacred Heart School in Hampton, New Hampshire.

Follow Kelsey Bode on Twitter @Kelsey_Bode.

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