Teacher fired for premarital sex... and NOT with a student!

[Sabrina]

A teacher at a private Christian school has been terminated because she *gasp* dared to have premarital sex with her soon-to-be husband and conceived a child as a result.

Story

According to the article, there is nothing in this woman's contract that indicates that she could be fired for such a thing; plus, the administrator of the school apparently informed the entire staff AND the parents of the fourth-graders she taught that she was being fired for "fornication". That's a violation of privacy, any way you look at it, and the actions are pretty much discrimination. I find it utterly repugnant that this school and its administration could think this is legitimate grounds for termination. What say you?

 

[Skeptic Guy]

I saw something about this on the Today show this morning, but no details. I'm not a lawyer, but I wouldn't think that they could terminate her employment if there was nothing in her contract about "fornication" even if it is a private school. And informing the staff and student families does seem like a violation of her privacy. I would like to hear from the lawyers on the forum, though.

 

[Aepervius]

Same old, same old.

 

[TragicMonkey]

In the letter explaining the termination to Gay, Julie Ennis ended by asking Hamilton to give up the lawsuit.

“We request that Jarretta withdraw her complaint and consider the testimony of the Lord,” the letter concludes.

I find this bit particularly ironic, considering that the Lord in question was himself not the child of his mother's husband. If the god of a religion doesn't take marriage seriously, why should the followers?

 

[Skeptic Guy]

What TM said. I think there is a precedent in support of fornication.

 

[Rasmus]

Same old, same old.

This.

I would not at all be surprised if her contract actually *does* require her to live up to the moral standards and guidelines of her religion.

 

[sadhatter]

Does it not seem like private schools are testing the waters of the discrimination laws lately? There are a lot of these kinds of cases coming up, and while i am not one for ct thinking , it seems strange to me this sudden deluge of claims like this.

 

[WildCat]

What TM said. I think there is a precedent in support of fornication.

That was an immaculate conception, you see.

 

[Crossbow]

A teacher at a private Christian school has been terminated because she *gasp* dared to have premarital sex with her soon-to-be husband and conceived a child as a result.

Story

According to the article, there is nothing in this woman's contract that indicates that she could be fired for such a thing; plus, the administrator of the school apparently informed the entire staff AND the parents of the fourth-graders she taught that she was being fired for "fornication". That's a violation of privacy, any way you look at it, and the actions are pretty much discrimination. I find it utterly repugnant that this school and its administration could think this is legitimate grounds for termination. What say you?

Sorry, but I do think that a slight correction is in order in here!

While the contract may not have anything about "fornication" per se, however I am sure that the contract does include a "morals clause" and the management gets the happy job of defining what is moral and immoral. Therefore, it would be legal for the school to fire the teacher in question for the offense in question.

And, of course, that is why I would never work at such a place.

 

[Skeptic Guy]

That was an immaculate conception, you see.

Ah, that is so. But I would imagine that this conception was more of the fun type.

 

[Mycroft]

I find this bit particularly ironic, considering that the Lord in question was himself not the child of his mother's husband. If the god of a religion doesn't take marriage seriously, why should the followers?

So...Jesus was a bastard?

 

[Ocelot]

Premarital sex hardly makes her an Arch Villian

It's not like she got her father drunk so that she could impregnate herself with his seed without his knowledge or anything like that.

 

[Anerystos]

If this were imposed at the school where I teach, there would be few teachers left. I wouldn't be. And my wife would have been sacked.

 

[TragicMonkey]

That was an immaculate conception, you see.

Argh.

The Immaculate Conception was Mary's, not her son's. The reason for it was that Mary had to be magically born without Original Sin, because nobody in the early church wanted Jesus to come out of a regular sinful woman. No doubt Mary also didn't fart, and if she did, it would smell of heavenly roses or something. Why she'd been eating roses I can't imagine. Hell, some popular religious legends* have her being raised in a holy convent (in a time before Catholic nuns existed) and being fed by birds which brought her holy berries.

Expecting sense out of magical stories about magic is kind of silly. Though not as silly as the myths themselves, of course.


*eta: popular in the past, I mean. Nobody these days takes the medieval folk legends seriously. Jacques Voraigne, etc.

 

[quadraginta]

If this were imposed at the school where I teach, there would be few teachers left. I wouldn't be. And my wife would have been sacked.

This is the moral lesson to be learned.

The sin is not in the act, it's in being honest about it.

 

[geni]

This is the moral lesson to be learned.

The sin is not in the act, it's in being honest about it.

Nope. From the school's POV the problem is in the action. That they can't take action against you unless they find out is not material to what they consider the problem to be.

 

[ponderingturtle]

This.

I would not at all be surprised if her contract actually *does* require her to live up to the moral standards and guidelines of her religion.

I would be surprised if it matters. See stewardesses fired for slightly racy pictures on the internet of themselves.

 

[geni]

Does it not seem like private schools are testing the waters of the discrimination laws lately? There are a lot of these kinds of cases coming up, and while i am not one for ct thinking , it seems strange to me this sudden deluge of claims like this.

Plently of alturnatives. The most obvious is that the media have decided that it now counts as news. With the number of such schools in the US and the number of teachers they employ it doesn't take very many trying to enforce their moral and religious standards to result in a conostant stream of cases.

Another option is that people who are not ah strict memebers of whatever religion runs the school are for whatever reason becoming more likely to apply to work for them and thus more conflicts resulting.

 

[RoboTimbo]

Sorry, but I do think that a slight correction is in order in here!

While the contract may not have anything about "fornication" per se, however I am sure that the contract does include a "morals clause" and the management gets the happy job of defining what is moral and immoral. Therefore, it would be legal for the school to fire the teacher in question for the offense in question.

And, of course, that is why I would never work at such a place.

This from the article, quoting the school's administrator, Julie Ennis:
“Jarretta was asked not to return because of a moral issue that was disregarded, namely fornication, sex outside of marriage. The employment application, which she filled out, clearly states that as a leader before our students we require all teachers to maintain and communicate the values and purpose of our school.”

This from Edward Gay, Jaretta Hamilton's attorney:
“The courts have consistently ruled that a private school is just like any other employer. As long as there’s more than 50 employees, they are governed by the law regarding discrimination,” Gay said. “The teachers are serving a secular purpose, and therefore they are governed by federal laws of discrimination.”

To add insult to idiocy, Ennis sent Jaretta a letter explaining the termination with:
“We request that Jarretta withdraw her complaint and consider the testimony of the Lord,” the letter concludes.

IANAL but I'd say that the school is going to have their ass handed to them.

 

[Information Analyst]

It's not like she got her father drunk so that she could impregnate herself with his seed without his knowledge or anything like that.

"Again he was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up."

How strong was that wine?!