Teacher fired for extramarital sex.

plynnl

This seems wrong on so many levels. This could be a real HR nightmare.

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Paul in Cannon Beach

The thing is, private religious schools have the right to require a certain level of behavior from their faculty. This situation, if the details of the article are accurate, was handled poorly.

I think the school leadership could have come up with a more gracious response that would have avoided all this negative publicity.

Still Need Coffee

Very true - but could you really call it a BFOQ???

ACU Frank

These days, anytime a teacher has an extramarital affair with a [B]non-student[/B] it's a bonus.

cnghr

[quote=ACU Frank;720034]These days, anytime a teacher has an extramarital affair with a [B]non-student[/B] it's a bonus.[/quote]

In this case, it wasn't even an extramarital affair...she had sex with her fiance a few weeks before the wedding. Oooh, naughty!

NaeNae55

It wasn't adultery, but it [I]was[/I] extramarital. I can understand the school's concern regarding having a teacher getting pregnant before marriage since they are a religious institution, and we are talking about a role model here. However, it didn't sound like the teacher was that far along that most people would have even realized the true situation. Not to mention that they completely overlooked the forgiveness aspect of the church.

It seems to me they would have been better off asking the teacher to not flaunt the situation, and warning her that if scandal broke they would be forced to ask for her resignation.

ACU Frank

I'm also wondering how much the interracial aspect had to do with the decision.

NaeNae55

[QUOTE=ACU Frank;720039]I'm also wondering how much the interracial aspect had to do with the decision.[/QUOTE]

Indeed. Their actions speak so much louder than their words that it is difficult to decide if they are honest and totally lacking in tact and forethought, or deceitful and just plain stupid.

However, since I feel a bit hypocrtical in judging them for judging the teacher I think I should just shut up now.

plynnl

I just think that the pregnancy issue is such a non-issue in today's world, but I admit I didn't take into account her teaching at a christian school. I doubt many of her students would have counted back to see if she was pregnant when she got married or even care.

JAthey

I try really hard not to BE judgmental, but for some reason it doesn't bother me to judge other people for being judgmental, LOL.



Julie

Dasher

Can not imagine who the HR adviser was on this one. Also don't understand why the teacher found it necessary to even be truthful in this instance. It really wasn't a workplace issue because the pregnancy did not cause the students any concern (that is until the school found it necessary to report to the parents and staff). Gee, she was fully married not only when the baby was born, but when the pregnancy became obvious. Just seems odd -- the entire situation.

What about "he who is without sin, cast the first stone". This school just made a mountain out of a molehill -- and they may have to pay up. Poor teachers -- imagine being in that workplace. What's next, cameras in the bedrooms.

cnghr

[quote=Dasher;720043]Can not imagine who the HR adviser was on this one. Also don't understand why the teacher found it necessary to even be truthful in this instance.[/quote]

I saw the teacher on the Today show and she said that she was caught completely off-guard when the principal asked her the question about whether the baby was conceived before the wedding, and she just sort of blurted out the answer.

The baby was apparently conceived only a few weeks before she got married, because she said that they got married on Feb. 20 and the baby is now 8 months old. What seemed odd to me was that the principal would even ask when she got married and if she was pregnant when she got married. When the timeline is that close, why would you even think about it? The baby could have been conceived on their wedding night, for all he knew, unless he was tracking her cycle and knew exactly when she was ovulating!

At first I was just listening to the interview and wasn't watching, and then when I did look at the t.v. and saw that they were an interracial couple, my first thought was that probably had more to do with her being fired than the issue of being pregnant when she got married.

I've known any number of good, morally upstanding Christian people who have had "premature" full-term babies six or seven months after the wedding.....my own mother included.

ACU Frank

If this school's fourth-graders know that much about ovulation, then this teacher's baby is the least of the school's worries.

NaeNae55

Are you kidding or living in the dark ages? Of course they know all about it. Even in the 60's kids were being taught about what happens when you grow up by that age. Of course, not as explicitly as they do today, but body functions were definitely included. Fourth graders today could probably explain it all to US!

System

This takes me back to a former life when I was the sole PR person for a large public school system. It never ceases to amaze me how something that should be small can blow up spectacularly and get a lot of media attention not because the actual issue was a big deal but because of the way the situation was handled (or rather badly mishandled). If a teacher who got pregnant a few weeks before she got married is the biggest thing a principal or school has to worry about, that is one very lucky school. I'd be counting my blessings.

jyoung

I really can't see what the teacher can sue the school for. The school has a standard that it asks its teachers to abide by. Although the standard is vague and not clear, it is still there. Also it doesn't matter if the kids or the parents wouldn't be able to figure out if it was out of wedlock or not. She had sex out of wedlock and conceived a child. The school principal didn't feel that was a good representation of the school and fired her. Whether you don't agree with it doesn't matter. It is the private school's standard and policy.

Does the state have an employee at will law? Unless she is being fired because she is black or because she is a woman or because she was pregnant, which even then the burden will be on her, I can't see what see could get out of this or how she could win this case.

plynnl

Just the fact that they asked her was creepy to me. If they hadn't asked they would have never known and certainly the kids would have never known she conceived a few weeks before she was married. The teacher should be given credit for being honest.
I am not sure if she has a case to sue but I can understand why she wants to.

ACU Frank

Would they have fired a male teacher? Would they have even asked the male teacher to do the math for them?

I doubt it, and even if they would have, it would be difficult to refute unless they had asked previously.

Also, while she was no longer pregnant at the time of the termination, her pregnancy was the reason... That alone could be all she needs.

The more I read about this, the more I would like to be her attorney.

NaeNae55

You GO Frank! We'll root for you!

plynnl

I think she definitely has a case and I am not generally into lawsuits, this one I am rooting for.

ACU Frank

Thanks Nae! Of course, I'd have to pass the bar exam first. I'm not sure they'll accept my old LSAT score in lieu of...

NaeNae55

Well, you could just show them your posts here, on FB or Twitter. That would show them that you are knowledgable and able to argue your points well. However, I would change the picture first. The one you have up that you took last winter makes you look like a wildman. It doesn't fit into any lawyer stereotype I've ever seen. In fact....well, perhaps I should stop now while I'm ahead.

Celeste Blackburn SPHR

I'm going to chime in a little late on this one. I attended a private Christian university, and this sort of thing happened there. In fact, I remember a specific instance when a person wasn't hired for a job as a sort of "dorm mother" because she had had a child out of wedlock -- 14 years earlier. She already had a lower position in the dorm but didn't qualify for that sort of leader/admin position.

Personally, I was disappointed in the decision, but I also know many professors and church leaders who -- while they liked her personally -- stood behind the decision and the general rule.

Also, I also agree with Nae. If those 4th graders know it takes 9 months to make a baby, certainly there will be the ones who count backward when the baby is born and figure out that something could be off. From my experience, that sort of thing happens [I]especailly[/I] at a Christian school. If something is forbidden or has the hint of scandal, that's where the kids are going to spend their mental powers. We grew up being taught a long list of rules, so we were always on the lookout for adults who break those rules.