Posted on 06/09/2010 10:00:05 AM PDT by inflorida
Fourth-grade teacher Jarretta Hamilton was newly married and expecting a baby when she went to speak with her supervisors in April of last year.
But the administrators at Southland Christian School in St. Cloud parried her query about maternity leave with a query of their own: When did she conceive?
After Hamilton admitted that her child had been conceived about three weeks before her February 20, 2009, wedding, the school fired her.
Now she's suing in federal court.
"She wants compensation for the loss of the job, and she's seeking compensatory damages for emotional distress," said Edward Gay, Hamilton's attorney who filed the suit in U.S. District Court in Orlando.
In the complaint, which asks for a trial by jury, Hamilton alleges her termination was based on the fact of her pregnancy — and that the school offended her by disclosing the information about when she conceived to other school staffers and the parents of students Hamilton taught during the 2008-2009 school year.
Hamilton did not authorize the school to reveal that information, according to the complaint.
She also tried to keep the matter from getting to this point, Gay said. She filed discrimination charges with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Florida Commission on Human Relations, but has since exhausted her options.
A July 20, 2009, letter signed by school administrator Julie Ennis explains why the school's administrators thought they had to fire Hamilton:
"Jarretta was asked not to return because of a moral issue that was disregarded, namely fornication, sex outside of marriage," the letter reads. "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."
(Excerpt) Read more at orlandosentinel.com ...
-PJ
It is clear the school does not cherish the same values that God does. The school probed and used deception as a tool to get this woman to confess to a "sin". Then they used the fruits of that deception to justify punishing her.
God does not cherish deception as a tool, and asked specifically for those that follow him and claim to love Him, to forgive. He taught in person, "Let those who are w/o sin cast the first stone!" This is no Christian school. It's a hell hole run by the fathter of lies.
As for the firing, she has no legal footing. She signed the morals clause and violated it, case closed.
If, however, the lawsuit is over the defamation of her character, I would say she has ample legal footing to bring the case.
Are there Trolls among us?
Where did I ever claim to be righteous?
I merely defend a private organization's right to seek righteousness, and break financial ties with a would be employee who broke her agreement to do the same.
No one will live up to the glory of god, or Jesus.
Therefor all should fully embrace their depravity, evidently...
I bet the person that asked this pregnant woman the question is a coward, and I would guess is involved in some “questionable” behavior himself.
Now now... asserting secret evil motives and bad behavior in others is... what is the word?... oh yes... Self-righteous.
>Now you have just ruined a perfectly good family and many others in that school. Sickening.
Oh dear, they have been deprived of the uplifting demonstration that you can sin with no consequence. She didn't even get free paid maternity leave from breaking her agreement. How unfair.
What you would have to be adept at is knowing whether a child was premature or not.
But you could tell within +/- three weeks, because you are omniscient.
Well, the school did relay the information to other teachers and parents. However, looking over the information about HIPPA, I'm less convinced that it actually applies here. It seems to cover the dissemination of information by insurance and health care providers - neither of which the school qualifies as. Plus, she told the school she was pregnant, but that's the sort of thing that eventually is going to become common knowledge, for obvious reasons.
It seems that the information she didn't like spread around was when she got pregnant - and I'm hard-pressed to see how the timing of your having sex with someone qualifies as "medical information" under the guidelines set by HIPPA.
All the same, the school was at least ethically wrong to just go spreading around the private details of why she was fired to others (Prov. 17:9).
Agree fully. If all the school said was that she was fired for cause (IE morality clause violation) then they are within their rights.
I’ve finally met a person who is without sin! Glad to meet you!
Would the date of conception be in the medical records?
Hey, when you’re without sin, you can cast all the stones you want! Woohoo!
How d'ya figure they did that? They asked, she answered, seems pretty straightforward to me...
Read your Bible much?
How about a repentant fornicator? Are they allowed in? Got that advance copy of the Book of Life with you?
Probably more than you.
This saddens me greatly for christianity. Jesus didn’t pick the woman up from the sand who was about to be stoned for her adultery and fire her. Treating this teacher the way they are doing just demoralizes anyone thinking about coming to Christ and emboldens the enemies of the faith. My hear breaks for the lack of grace shown this woman. I would also like to know if the administrators of this “christian” school understand how people were given over to marriage in the bible. They didn’t walk down aisles with proper officiators etc. There are many people married in this word who aren’t married spiritually. Only God knows the spiritual foundation of a relationship and no ceremony by an imperfect Reverand or Priest will change that. These horrible representatives of the faith should clean the inside of their vessel and quit taking pride in showing their whitewashed outer tombs. If they EVER dreamed or fantasised of sex outside of marriage, they are just as guilty according to Christ. They are pharisees and their actions make Jesus weep because it makes hopefuls flee christianity and shows they just don’t really “get it.”
Are you saying that because everybody sins, there shouldn’t be consequences to sinning?
“...theological, not legal. If she violated a moral agreement,...”
Our moral principles are based on theology. God is the author of our morality. I was referring to the moral violation rather than the violation of the Decalogue.
We do not know the details surrounding this case. People are jumping to conclusions and making faults assumptions.
We do not know the details of the contract this teacher signed, and how, exactly, she violated the contract. So I will reserve my opinions concerning “sin” as it relates to the entire staff and this woman.
I guarantee you that’s not true. Any entity that has collected any personally-identifiable, confidential health information is bound to hold it in confidence. You know those insurance forms that you filled out and gave to your employer that are now sitting in a file somewhere? They cannot distribute it, nor use any of it against you.
The ultimate user of the information is the insurance company, but everyone in the trail is held to the same standard.
It is against the law for any employer to discriminate against a pregnant person - it’s against the law to ask an applicant, and it’s against the law to take action against an employee when it comes to pregnancy.
No, but it can be extrapolated. Her medical records would indicate the date the pregnancy was diagnosed/confirmed, and then the doctor's estimate of how far along the pregnancy is.
Actually though, that is a very good point. If she gave the Date of Conception out of her own recollection, then it is not a divulging of medical records.
In retrospect, I will stand by my earlier statement that she may have standing to bring a suit for the defamation, but more and more I do not see where she has the proof that the information divulged was substantially harmful enough to be a winner.
I think the key will actually be if the school passed the information to other schools (prospective employers) without the information being requested. That is a completely seperate violation.
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