Teacher Fired for Out-of-Wedlock Pregnancy Claims Illegal Gender Bias in Lawsuit
A Florida teacher who was fired from a Christian school for getting pregnant before marriage has filed a federal discrimination lawsuit in Orlando.
Jarretta Hamilton was fired after she sought maternity leave at Southland Christian School in St. Cloud, Fla. and truthfully answered a principal’s question about the timing of her conception, according to stories at MSNBC.com, the Orlando Sentinel and ABCNews.com. Hamilton admitted she conceived about three weeks before her marriage.
Southland contends Hamilton signed an employment application requiring teachers to maintain the school’s values, and says she was fired for disregarding the moral issue of sex outside marriage.
Hamilton’s suit contends the firing violates federal law barring gender discrimination and state law barring marriage discrimination, her lawyer, Edward Gay, told ABC. The suit also claims a privacy violation because the school told students and their parents why Hamilton was fired. Gay says the school is not exempt from bias laws, despite its religious nature, because Hamilton was performing “essentially secular duties.”
The school’s letter says there is no discrimination because it has other pregnant women on staff.
