Teacher Fired For Conceiving Three Weeks Before Wedding

Posted by | June 9, 2010 12:04 | Filed under: Top Stories


Jarretta Hamilton, a fourth-grade teacher at the Southland Christian School in St. Cloud, FL, told her supervisors last year that she had just gotten married and was expecting a baby.  Administrators wanted to know when she conceived, and when Hamilton told them it was three weeks before her February 20, 2009 wedding, she was fired.

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.

School administrator Julie Ennis wrote a letter in July 2009 explaining the school’s position.

“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.”

The letter declares that sex outside of marriage is immoral and that other pregnant teachers have been able to remain employed with the school because they conceived within marriage.

“We request that Jarretta withdraw her complaint and consider the testimony of the Lord,” closed the letter.

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Copyright 2010 Liberaland
By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.

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