High School Teacher Loses Job Because Of Facebook Picture Holding Beer And Wine

Ashley Payne, a 24-year-old high school teacher in Barrow County, Georgia was suspended from her job because a parent complained to the school about a picture on her Facebook page that was taken during a European vacation.

“[The principal] just asked me, ‘Do you have a Facebook page?'” Payne said. “And you know, I’m confused as to why I am being asked this, but I said, ‘Yes.’ And he said, ‘Do you have any pictures of yourself up there with alcohol?'”

In fact, the picture that concerned the principal – showing Payne holding a glass of wine and a mug of beer – was on her Facebook page. There was also a reference to a local trivia contest with a profanity in its title.

Payne was told a parent of one of her students called to complain. And then, Payne says, she was given a choice: resign or be suspended.

She was told she had to make an immediate decision and resigned. Attorney Richard Storrs is trying to get her job back.

“It would be like I went to a restaurant and I saw my daughter’s teacher sitting there with her husband having a glass of some kind of liquid,” Storrs said. “You know, is that frowned upon by the school board? Is that illegal? Is that improper? Of course not. It’s the same situation in this case.”

By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.