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 ...
I do not believe the school is bound by HIPAA. PHI (Personal Health Information) is typically considered confidential info accessible by health care professionals, facilities, and insurance companies.
I don't believe the school is bound any more than your local hair stylist. If he asks you when you got pregnant, you tell him, and he tells his entire clientele, too bad for you.
The actual employment decision (to terminate) has some serious EEOC implications. But the HIPAA thing is a nonstarter. There could be violations of internal policies with such disclosures though.
Pregnancy is not a medical condition or disease.
Was masturbation covered in the terms of the contract as well?
Is what you believe as important as to the agreement the two partied made prior to employment?
Do the terms of contracts matter in any way if one of the parties decides they don't like them anymore? Should the other party still be bound by the contract?
are you really that ignorant? Do you really think that every child is born exactly 270 days post conception? Google the stats. I can usually ignore sanctimonius jackasses, but occasionally I'll see a sanctimonius horse's ass and I just can't help replying.
What exactly about upholding Christian values in a Christian school do you not understand?
Unfortunately, the "Christian values" of a lot of FReepers appear to amount to:
It's sad how petulent, childish, and immature these folks are. Essentially, their argument is the 40-year old version of the five year old who pitches a fit when his parent doesn't ler him do something.
I hope she ruins some careers and walks away rich.
Yeah, I can’t believe they went to the extreme of beheading her like they did! /s
What is "illegal" is defined by "the state," aka Barry Sotero. I thought we were all for the people's right to define morality? Private schools are run by private individuals, aka the people.
Although the decision to engage in premarital sex while employed by a Christian school was unwise (as I believe all premarital sex to be), the school had no right under existing HIPAA law to ask the question regarding the pregnancy. They can’t even ask that of a person when being hired.
It sounds to me that the staff and parents were engaged in gossip, and so the school decided to assuage that sin by releasing the medical information. There is a greater problem in that school than just this pregnancy.
She’s at fault for deception, but the school broke the law. No one wins in a case like this.
I hope so too. People always point out the negative. At least she is married and taking care of her child. No one can live up to the glory of god. Not even the pope himself.
Police are employed by the government not a church. I will call you exceedingly irrational.
No one is upholding out of wedlock sex. However, once you get self-righteous prigs taking it upon themselves to interrogate pregnant women about the date of conception, you’ve gone waaaay too far.
The problem with so much of Christianity today is liberals (and yes you are a liberal, and no, I doubt you are more conservative than most FReepers) such as yourself who can't stand to actually see people and organisations live by the rules they set for themselves.
Sex police in the bedroom? What kind of idiot child hyperbole is this? She was fired (private action) after she violated a stipulation in a contract (private action). Not too hard to figure out, eh?
You are a hypocrite. If you can't stand to see biblical morality lived in a Christian organisation, then you need to stop claiming to be a Christian.
ROFLOL!!!!
School apparently disagrees with that.
This is not about rules set for oneself, its about rules set for others. That is not Christianity. Christians obey by choice, not by law.
You don’t find asking a married, pregnant woman when she conceived to be morally repugnant and criminally invasive? I sure as hell do.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.