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 ...
Concieving and raising children is a joyful normal part of life.
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Do you often go up to members of your church and ask when they had the sex that led to the wife’s pregnancy?
It’s one thing to ask when are you due, but when did you conceive? Frankly, the question seems creepy and not far from prurient.
I guess you've got a nice supply of rocks at home, too. Just in case you need them.
What's really at issue is whether or not the school reflects the image of Jesus Christ. It purports to do so; but does it really?
That's the by far the most important question. You should put away your rocks for a while, and reflect more fully on the school's actions. Just because they call themselves "Christian" doesn't mean that they automatically act in a Christ-like manner.
No. Story says the conception was around 3 weeks prior to the wedding.
If a person gets fired for their response ... questions of liability naturally arise.
Obviously.
And as Christ admonishes, repentance is a requirement.
It is not optional. And the finest lawyers can not erase that requirement.
How do we know that she was repentent or not? The only way we know is by her actions. 1st - She married the dad. 2nd - She didn’t have an abortion. 3rd - She didn’t lie about the conception date.
The lawsuit is happening because of events after she told about the pregnancy. I don’t think she should be bringing the lawsuit. Legally, the school has a right to fire her.
The school can’t know for a fact if she was repentent. That’a heart issue. In this case, what more could she have done to show she was repentent?
Then you don’t understand how these types of situations are handled within a church. The more a sinner refuses to repent the more public within the church it becomes.
“Story says the conception was around 3 weeks prior to the wedding”
Further, it is possible to not know that you’re pregnant that early.
Again, I reiterate - if the members of the school administration had also engaged in pre-marital sex while employed by the school, then you'd have a case. See, when Jesus confronted the Pharisees about the woman caught in adultery, what He did was basically confronted them with their own like sins. They were hypocritical, because they were going to stone the woman for doing something that they themselves had done.
Which, of course, you have no possible clue to be the case in this case with the school.
Sorry, but the Bible certainly says that there are standards of behaviour for those involved in Christian service. Somebody is not "unChristian" for expecting people to abide by those standards or else face certain consequences. Please, don't peddle a dumbed-down Christianity to us.
When I was pregnant I didn’t consider it a “condition”.
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But you did have regular checkups with your doctor, did you not? If it is not a medical condition, I have to wonder why you made such visits.
Ummm, not bring the lawsuit?
"How d'ya figure they did that? They asked, she answered, seems pretty straightforward to me... "
They led them to believe they were Christian, which is false.
It's amazing. In days gone by, the power and appeal of Christianity was its willingness to live by higher standards than the world set for itself. Now, apparently, a lot of folks think the power and appeal of Christianity should be in being as lawless and disobedient as the world.
As I said, that was a result of how the school treated her. I don’t think she was in the right for bringing the lawsuit, but I don’t think the school was right for firing her based on the pregnancy alone.
Your argument proves too much. Are you suggesting there are no offenses that might result in termination, if you were the employer? Grace covers all of our sins. Not sure it should be employment insurance.
Are you sure HIPPA was involved? When did the school get access to her medical records?
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If the school sponsors the benefit plan, HIPAA is involved. And since they had maternity leave in place (apparently), the seem to be sponsoring a plan.
Very true. And an employee can quit for any reason, such as the color of the headmaster’s tie. We don’t sue employees for quitting....
I believe that HPPA has, as part of its privacy stipulations, that employers cannot ask or otherwise inquire about personal medical information. I believe pregnancy (and the date of conception) would certainly fall under that umbrella.
It isn’t.
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Again, if the school sponsors the health plan, they absolutely are bound by the HIPAA provisions. It does not matter that she told the administration, they were not within their legal rights to disclose that information to anyone else, not the faculty and certainly not the students.
Considering some of the extreme left opinions expressed by certain members on this forum, nothing is “obvious.”
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