A longtime San Diego educator says she lost her job, and then her health insurance, after asking for time off to deal with a cancer diagnosis. Sharrene Stuht, 58, worked at Learn4Life’s San Diego Workforce Innovation High School starting in 2013, serving as a regional athletic coordinator and truancy officer before she says the charter network pushed her out in 2025.
Stuht was diagnosed with cancer in August 2023, and according to her lawsuit, she was terminated after requesting time off for a knee replacement tied to that diagnosis. As reported by The San Diego Union-Tribune, she says she was refused a pay cut, a part-time position, or a transfer that would have let her keep her health coverage. She has since filed a complaint in San Diego Superior Court and has been unable to find a new job.
Under California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act, employers with five or more workers must engage in a timely, good-faith interactive process and offer reasonable accommodations, including medical leave or modified duties, to employees diagnosed with cancer or other disabilities, according to the California Civil Rights Department. Stuht’s complaint accuses Learn4Life of firing her because of her disability and treatment needs. Her attorneys go further, alleging the network systematically discards employees who need medical leave or accommodations, and the complaint cites at least four other local Learn4Life workers who were terminated after taking disability or medical leave.
A Web of Corporate Names Behind the Classroom
Learn4Life describes itself as one of California’s largest charter school networks, educating 20,000 or more students, and its former chief financial officer, Guita Sharifi, said in a 2021 broadcast interview that the organization’s model reaches nearly 50,000 students nationally when counting all partner schools. Founded in 2001, the network operates dozens of campuses across California and collected more than $450 million in public education funds during the 2023-2024 fiscal year, per the same Union-Tribune report. But Stuht’s lawsuit does not name a single employer. It names a cluster of entities, including Lifelong Learning Administration Corporation and Educational Advancement Corporation, that manage much of the network’s day-to-day operations…