Should a christian school teacher be fired for having a baby out of wedlock?
Jarretta Hamilton, a former fourth-grade teacher, appeared on the “Today” show Monday to talk about her lawsuit against Southland Christian School in St. Cloud, Fla.
Hamilton was fired in 2009 after going to school officials to ask for maternity leave. Hamilton, who is married, was asked by school officials about the date she conceived. When she explained that it was three weeks before her marriage to her husband, school officials decided to fire her. Hamilton, they argue, broke school policy to “maintain and communicate the values and purpose of [Southland Christian School].”
Hamilton is suing the school in federal court and is seeking “compensation for the loss of the job, and she’s seeking compensatory damages for emotional distress,” according to the Orlando Sentinal.
Recounting her story to Ann Curry, Hamilton and her husband explained that what bothered them the most was that school officials told colleagues and parents of students that Hamilton was fired for fornicating.
A letter from Southland Christian obtained by NBC News says that
“Jarretta was asked not to return because of a moral issue that was disregarded, namely fornication, sex outside of marriage.”
The school asks that Hamilton drop her case and “consider the testimony of the Lord.”
Should a Christian school teacher be fired for having a baby out of wedlock?
Jarretta Hamilton, a former fourth-grade teacher, appeared on the “Today” show Monday to talk about her lawsuit against Southland Christian School in St. Cloud, Fla.
Hamilton was fired in 2009 after going to school officials to ask for maternity leave. Hamilton, who is married, was asked by school officials about the date she conceived. When she explained that it was three weeks before her marriage to her husband, school officials decided to fire her. Hamilton, they argue, broke school policy to “maintain and communicate the values and purpose of [Southland Christian School].”
Hamilton is suing the school in federal court and is seeking “compensation for the loss of the job, and she’s seeking compensatory damages for emotional distress,” according to the Orlando Sentinal.
Recounting her story to Ann Curry, Hamilton and her husband explained that what bothered them the most was that school officials told colleagues and parents of students that Hamilton was fired for fornicating.
A letter from Southland Christian obtained by NBC News says that
“Jarretta was asked not to return because of a moral issue that was disregarded, namely fornication, sex outside of marriage.”
The school asks that Hamilton drop her case and “consider the testimony of the Lord.”
you shouldnt claim to be a christian and be a hypacrite because it ruins gods name
since she did get married i think she shouldnt of been fired
Why would ANYONE put their kids in that kind of school?
Those people are so against a woman’s choice, but when one CHOOSES TO HAVE HER BABY, they fire her!
Damn!
What is your honest opinion on this subject the stem of violence against black youths by Latino gang members?
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Oakland, accuses Union City police and officials with the New Haven Unified School District of doing nothing to prevent African American students from suffering “severe and pervasive racial harassment.” Gang members were responsible for many of the incidents on campus or near schools, the suit said.
In a statement Wednesday, Union City police and city officials said they have a “long-standing record of being responsive to supporting and defending the rights of all members of our diverse community.” School officials declined to comment.
The most serious incident cited in the lawsuit happened in December 2007, when Vernon Eddins, 14, was shot and killed in front of Barnard-White Middle School on Whipple Road in Union City. No arrests have been made.
On Saturday, eight African American youths, one of whom was wearing a shirt with Eddins’ picture on it, were shot at while at the Southland Mall in Hayward, said the plaintiffs’ attorney, Pamela Price. No one was injured.
No arrests have been made, said Hayward police Sgt. Steve Brown.
Although it happened in Hayward, the weekend shooting is the result of a “situation that bubbled out of Union City,” Price said at a news conference at the NAACP’s office in Hayward.
Hayward police responded quickly to the incident, while their counterparts in Union City have not moved fast enough to stem violence against black youths by Latino gang members, Price said.
In their statement, Union City officials said, “Youth violence is an area-wide issue not respecting municipal boundaries.”
Price said her clients are not gang members but are treated as such by Union City police. Officers often ask them, “What did you do to start this?” when “they did nothing,” Price said. “To me, that’s racial.”
Eddins’ mother, Angelique Paige, filed a federal civil rights lawsuit last year against police and the New Haven school district, accusing them of “failing to adequately discourage” racial violence. The suit is pending.
Paige cried at Wednesday’s news conference as Price said gang members based in Union City’s Decoto neighborhood had gloated about Eddins’ slaying on a MySpace page.
African American students and their families have been told by police that if they don’t like the situation, they should move, said attorney John Burris, who is also representing the plaintiffs.
From: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/01/27/BAP61BOB12.DTL
No immigration connection here.
Teacher fired from a christian school for having premarital sex?
Hamilton was a widowed mother of five and engaged to a new man when she became pregnant. When she applied for maternity leave, the school principal, Joe Ennis, said he was “trying to do the math” and asked if her child had been conceived before her marriage. “I was honest about it,” Hamilton said. “I didn’t know it would cost me my job.” Hamilton is now suing the school for wrongful termination.
The school’s administrator, Julie Ennis, wrote a letter to Hamilton’s attorney asking Hamilton to give up the lawsuit. “We request that Jarretta withdraw her complaint and consider the testimony of the Lord,” the letter concludes.”
http://www.momlogic.com/2010/06/teacher_fired_for_having_premarital_sex.php#ixzz0qwFGxkE8
What are your thoughts? Was the school extreme in their actions? Is the school justified in their actions?
But, it shouldn’t be shocking that a teacher at a Christian school is a hypocrite. They should all be fired if they fire hypocrites.
but such is life at a religious school.
*(3 diet cokes says the principal and/or most of the rest of her staff also had sex before marriage…..)
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no
but the school has rules and if they bend the rules for one then you gotta for all
it is extremely good the school is not caving into societies acceptance of immorality, but
forgiveness is very important as well
What business is it of theirs? Did someone declare the school officials god and give them the right to pass judgment? What gives them the right to give students personal information about a teacher? That really crossed the line of professionalism.
I wonder if the school ever asks male teachers about their sex lives.
BTW, she did NOT have a baby out of wedlock. She was married by then.
this is bad and sad. we let these people come here and they treat us like this. blacks, native americans and whites need to band together and open a can of whip azz on those thugs. it would be nice if our govt would order a mass destruction on all gang bangers and illegals.
Yes the school was, in my opinion, extreme but it’s what they teach and I have to give them props for walking the walk, instead of just talking the talk. She’ll have to teach some place where her personal life doesn’t matter to them.
I have a neighbor who is a secretary at a Catholic school and she’s not even allowed to wear sleeveless shirts to work.
I also know a man who was fired from a Catholic school teaching position because he got divorced instead of having the marriage annulled.
It’s ridiculous. ESPECIALLY considering the fact that she was already married, and there is no way anybody would have found out without her being honest about it. It would not have negative effect on any of the children there- they wouldn’t think twice about their married teacher being pregnant. Therefore, if it doesn’t effect the kids- I fail to see their reasoning other than it’s something they don’t “agree” with. I feel awful for her, but I guess it’s their right to do whatever they want in the name of “The lord,”
Private Christian school has the right to uphold whatever value or moral systems they see fit, as long as they are consistently applied.
Too bad she had the bad luck to conceive when she did. She could have been the whore of Babylon, and they wouldn’t have known it if she hadn’t been pregnant.
Stupid. We have a hard enough time getting and keeping decent teachers. We have no business judging the ones we get.
And please, there are plenty of Christians having premarital sex. Half the student body is likely sexually active. And she was a mother of five, so it’s not like she was a virgin.
Hope she takes the self righteous SOBs for all she can get.
Well its crazy. They should have put that in her contract as a way of losing her job, so she would understand why it would be a problem. Also she wouldn’t have been blindsided from it. Another thing, I guarentee that at least 30% of the students at the school have had sex already(junior or highschool), so her actions wouldn’t stain the schools rep or influence the kids behavior. They should’ve made a point in her hiring that they wouldn’t tolerate premarital sex. That way she could’ve walked away. Oh well I think they were wrong to associate sex with her job.
We had a similar issue with the youth pastor at our old church. He was fired because they found out he was cheating on his wife. They didn’t fire him because of that, however, they fired him because he refused to take the help (marriage counseling and the like) that the church had offered him.
I don’t know what to think about the situation with this teacher. On one hand, it’s hypocritical for a teacher to teach the ways of Christianity yet not display those actions in her own life. On the other hand, it’s hypocritical to fire someone for sinning when all of us our guilty of sin, according to the Bible.
I think it’s only God’s place to judge. They should’ve allowed her to keep her job. 97% of people have premarital sex—I’m sure she’s not the only staff member at that school who is guilty of it. She’s just the one who got “caught”.
Unless it stated in the contract she signed that that was forbidden then she has rights… what a bunch of hypocrites, like they don’t sin… are they casting the first stone? then cast back the one of judgment being God’s duty and not those of anyone else… good grief, I’d make a mockery out of the whole bunch of them for their backwards behavior… and get some cash for humiliation too…
Good point. If your husband working and he didn’t get fired then it’s even more wrong.
I know some students will look at the fact you work at the school and got pregnant before marriage but it’s still wrong.
I think it is stupid. She is grown. As long as she was doing her job right as a teacher her personal life shouldn’t even be a issue unless she done something illegal. Its a Christian school ok. You got girls that attend Catholic and christian schools that get pregnant. We don’t live in a perfect world and this is 2010 not 1950.
I think it’s creepy that a principal would figure out the conception date of a teacher’s pregnancy.
I’m a devout Catholic who doesn’t believe in pre-marital sex, but I think that school/principal was way out of line. I didn’t know a school owned you when you’re hired to teach there. They should have given out chastity belts, so she’d know what the scoop was at the school. I’m surprised they didn’t issue her a scarlet letter “A”.
If it was such a sin, why did GOD GIVE her the GIFT of a CHILD out of wedlock? isn’t that the same as rewarding naughty behaviour? This just proves that they don’t practise what they preach.They don’t practice forgiveness.The fact that she was ALREADY married and made a “decent women of herself” has no stance in their illogical brains.Religion is BS and this just goes to prove it.Hypocrits.
Great job taking away a position that is used to feed the mouth of a innocent child born to such a evil sinner! lol
Their moral code. It’s in their employee handbook. Private institution. Their right to fire anyone if they catch them breaking the rules. She’s not going to win that lawsuit.
i believe this falls under the category of “practice what you preach”
the truth is, its a private instutition and have “at will” employment, which means, technically, they can fire you at any time for any reason…
As a Christian myself, I think the school was wrong. However they are a private institution and are not bound by the same “equal opportunity” as a public school.