HR: Discrimination or Moral Violation?
Jarretta Hamilton, a fourth grade teacher at a private Christian school in Florida, was recently fired from her job for having premarital sex. She's now suing her former employer in federal court for discrimination.
Last year Jarretta went to her school administrator to hopefully be congratulated on her pregnancy and to request a standard 6 week maternity leave for later in the year. A widower and mother of 5 children, Jarretta and her second husband were thrilled to be expecting a child together. The meeting didn't go as expected.
The school principal first expressed his concerns about the problems the school faced when covering women on maternity leave. Secondly, he asked Jarretta, point blank, the date the baby had been conceived. She answered honestly that the baby was conceived 3 weeks prior to their planned wedding date.
A week later she was notified that she was being terminated- namely for fornication- sex outside of marriage. Not only was she dismissed from her teaching position, her "premarital conception" was made public, allegedly by the school principal, to all the teachers and parents of the students.
Although Jarretta signed an agreement upon accepting employment with her employer to maintain and communicate the values of the school, the agreement did not include a morality clause, nor did it include anything specific about engaging in premarital sex.
She is suing for compensation for both her lost job and for the emotional distress of being humiliated by the entire school. Her lawyer is filing with the EEOC and believes her termination violates federal protections against discrimination in the workplace. He explained that while personnel at the affiliated church are bound by moral standards, the teachers are serving a secular role and a private school is just like any other employer. (If there are more than 50 employees they are governed by the laws regarding discrimination.)
She also plans on filing suit against the school principal for invasion of privacy.
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