DATE: Friday, October 10, 1997              TAG: 9710100690

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B9   EDITION: FINAL 

                                            LENGTH:   72 lines

VIRGINIA [BRIEFS]

Students suspended

for playing with

Alka-Seltzer tablet

CHESTERFIELD - Two eighth-graders were suspended from school for 10 days after getting caught playing with a fizzing Alka-Seltzer tablet that a teacher had given one of them for a science experiment.

School officials in Chesterfield County said the boys' possession of the sodium bicarbonate tablet outside science lab violated the school system's zero-tolerance policy to combat drugs.

``The school division's zero tolerance policy has zero common sense,'' an angry Randy Hodges, father of 13-year-old honors student Justin Hodges, said Wednesday. ``They're treating my son as if he's a criminal and a drug addict. It's ridiculous.''

The tablets ``should never have been used in the science class if it's considered a drug,'' said Linda Merritt, mother of the other suspended Bailey Bridge Middle School student, Matt Merritt.

Hodges was given the tablet Tuesday by his science teacher for a lab experiment about how rocket propulsion works. But someone else in his lab group already had a tablet, Hodges said, so he put his in his pocket and forgot about it until lunch.

``I remembered I had it when I reached in my pocket to get out my lunch money,'' he said.

Hodges and Merritt were playing with the tablet in the cafeteria when another student put part of it in his mouth, where it foamed. The student was not hurt, but Hodges and Merritt were suspended for possessing a nonprescription drug on school grounds.

School officials declined further comment.

The penalty is being appealed.

State court reviews case

of fired pregnant woman

LYNCHBURG - Laura Doss was fired on her second day of work at an advertising distributor, right after she told her bosses she was pregnant.

Jamco Inc.'s attorney said the company was justified in firing Doss because her pregnancy would have prevented her from working during the busy winter holiday season.

The Virginia Supreme Court ruled in January that employers have broad authority to fire workers but cannot dismiss an employee simply because she is pregnant.

Now, the Supreme Court is considering whether Jamco's reason for firing Doss was good enough.

Doss sued Jamco in state and federal court, claiming the company, based in Forest, violated laws against sex discrimination.

Doss interviewed for a job with Jamco in February 1996. The company representative made no mention of leave being prohibited during Jamco's busy season, according to the lawsuit. Jamco distributes magazine advertisement inserts, with the busy season described as the winter holiday season.

Doss was offered the job of analyst a few days after the interview. Doss then resigned from her job as a supervisor at Wal-Mart and prepared to start her new job.

In the meantime, Doss discovered she was pregnant. When she reported to work March 11, 1996, she told her supervisor and the woman who interviewed her of the pregnancy.

The lawsuit claims Doss was never asked how much maternity leave she intended to take and was never made aware of leave policies.

Lynn Jacob, the Richmond lawyer representing Jamco, said the company did nothing unlawful by firing Doss.

The state Supreme Court heard arguments last month on whether the Doss suit can proceed under state law and is expected to release its findings at the end of October.

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