Woman disciplined on job for being 4-mos preggie and only 2 months wed

[gollygee]

Yes she is on administrative leave for having gotten pregnant 2 months before her wedding. I wonder what her answer was when they asked why she was 4 months pregnant when she'd only been married 2 months. LOL

http://wwmt.com/engine.pl?station=wwmt&id=16363&template=breakout_local.html

School punishes teacher for getting pregnant before married

May 11, 2005 - 5:42PM
BERRIEN SPRINGS (AP) - A teacher at a private Christian school in Berrien Springs has been placed on administrative leave for getting pregnant out of wedlock.

Christine John is a first-year teacher at the Village Seventh-day Adventist Elementary School. She says school officials asked her why she was four months along in her pregnancy when she had been married just two months.

John says school officials told her that premarital sex is an act strictly forbidden by the school system and the religion. She was told her services were no longer needed and that she will be on paid leave until her contract expires.

Now she's considering legal action.

[Bunny]

1. We've been talking about this here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3642818

[LibInternationalist]

2. I'd have to see the contract, I guess,

but isn't this entirely within a private organization's rights? I mean, it's bigoted and troubling, but hey, that's organized religion.

[ballcap1776]

4. That was my first thought

That was my first thought. I work for a small private Christian university and I can see something similar being a problem here. Well, maybe having a baby out of wedlock, but not the discrepancy between marriage and birth.

It's that old addage, you lie down with dogs and wake up with fleas...she knew what type of organization she was signing on with, she probably shouldn't be surprised or offended.

Now if she had been raped...that would be different story...

[tk2kewl]

3. She should've told them it was going to ba a virgin birth.

[formerrepuke]

5. Nancy (Davis) Reagan was 3 months pregnant (with Patti) when she

and Ronald Reagan got married.. so there.

[WI_DEM]

6. you can't please those fundies

She's having the baby (even getting married)--at least she didn't have an abortion.

[beyurslf]

7. A private religious school has the right to decide who can and can't work

there for whatever reason they want. They may by hypocrites, but that isn't illegal.

[spooky3]

17. Not necessarily. If it has more than 15 employees it may

be covered by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act with respect to gender or pregnancy discrimination.

http://www.bcidot.org/als/6903-15.html

[Cleita]

8. She should sue them. This is too much casting of stones

even for Christians. It's also a very blatant attack on women in general and it has to stop.

[Kansas Wyatt]

9. "paid leave until her contract expires"?

Hmm?

Paid vacation, and an important opportunity to get away from a religious cult.

[Norquist Nemesis]

10. Yeah, it's called "hush money" n/t

[Bridget Burke]

11. If she'd just had an abortion she'd still have a job.

Nobody would be the wiser. But she "chose life" & her boyfriend chose to become her husband. So they're being punished.

Yes, a private school has the right to do this. One more reason they should get NO voucher money.

[Cleita]

12. Amen, to the no voucher money.

:applause:

[Modem Butterfly]

15. The next person will know better

[gollygee]

24. I agree completely re the voucher money

[zbdent]

13. She should have told them that she was a Republican

that would have ended the debate right there, and they would have welcomed her with open (wider open) arms . . .

[Modem Butterfly]

14. FMLA should apply here, even with a private employer

You can't fire someone for being pregnant, even if the timing of that pregnancy is inconvenient to her employer.

[Bunny]

18. She wasn't fired for being pregnant.

She was fired for having premarital sex.

[spooky3]

19. if men are not also fired for having premarital sex,

and if the school is large enough, she may have protection under Title VII.

[Bunny]

23. Good point. I hadn't thought of that.

I should add that she wasn't technically fired, rather, her contract was not renewed. Amounts to the same thing, semantics I guess.

[ecstatic]

16. paid leave sounds wonderful to me

I can't really say much more about this until I see if her contract actually did make reference to what is "forbidden." Actually, nobody is "sin-free." They are all a bunch of hypocrites if you ask me.

[demgurl]

20. She should have lied.

She should have said that her and her bf eloped a while back because they could not wait to get married and then their parents forced her to have a 'real' ceremony with all the frills.

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

22. Yeah.. they would have never known the difference. n/t

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

21. Why did the woman tell them this information anyhow?

Why do they need to know how pregnant she is?

[Bridget Burke]

25. She could have just had a "premature" baby....

According to Miss Manners, the first baby is often premature, even if it weighs 10 pounds. This is not exactly a new situation.

[gollygee]

26. If her insurance is through work

can they find out anyway? dunno

My guess is that she didn't expect to lose her job over it.