Posted on 04/11/2012 9:44:41 AM PDT by Responsibility2nd
ROCKWALL — Cathy Samford, a volleyball coach and science teacher, was fired from Heritage Christian Academy for getting pregnant and not being married, the school acknowledged.
"I looked it up and thought, 'They can't do this,'" said Samford, 29.
For almost three years, she coached volleyball at the private school. Samford was named "Coach of the Year" and recently began teaching science.
But when she got pregnant last fall, the school fired her because she was not married.
"We all have different views and interpretations," Samford said. "It's not necessarily the Christian thing to do to throw somebody aside because of those."
"You can't discriminate against someone who's pregnant or has a pregnancy-related medical condition," said Colin Walsh, her attorney. "That is both state and federal law."
But Heritage Christian said this case is not so simple.
"I understand some people that would say 'It's a heartless thing to do,'" said the school's headmaster, Dr. Ron Taylor. "It wasn't easy to do."
Taylor acknowledged that Samford could not get fired for an out-of-wedlock pregnancy in a public school. But HCA is a private, religious campus, and Taylor said the school considers teachers to be ministers, since they're allowed to share their beliefs in the classroom.
"The Supreme Court, as a matter of fact in the last month, has ruled 9-to-0 that a Christian school does have that right, because this is a ministry, so we have the right to have standards of conduct," Taylor added.
Taylor said Samford violated the morals clause in her contract and was not a "Christian role model" to her students.
"How's it going to look to a little fourth grade girl that sees she's pregnant and she's not married?" Taylor asked.
Mediation did not result in a resolution between the two parties. The school said it also refused to settle the case.
Taylor said HCA was contacted by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission regarding the firing.
Samford and Walsh said they're now considering legal action. The fired teacher and expectant mother said she did nothing wrong, and faces financial problems now, including giving birth without insurance.
This is why I give money to school choice (vouchers) private school tuition charities and why I still curse GWB for abandoning the same to get NCLB through the Senate (and a pic with Ted Kennedy yet.)
I wonder if their employee insurance covers birth control... that would be a good question.
She wants the school (insurance) to pay her birth related medical expenses LOL
It's even worse than that! Because of your post, some woman out there will think that it is not such a bad thing to get pregnant without being married. She'll get knocked-up, and struggle to pay for the child. A child will starve that would otherwise have had food, just because of your post!
Or, maybe, we are all responsible for our own actions. So the woman who aborts her baby to escape the consequences of her actions would be morally responsible... not the school she fears will fire her.
Why are you on a conservative site, anyway?
Lame argument. Very lame argument. Didn’t you read the article? This is a Christian we’re talking about.
While Christians are imperfect and may even get pregnant while unmarried, they do not “Quietly have an abortion and keep their job”.
Thanks for determining who is pure enough to pass your muster...
If she doesn’t know that sex causes pregnancy, she is too stupid to be a teacher
>>>What if she was raped and decided to keep the baby? Should she be punished? Your sense of morality is full of holes and you also know nothing about the circumstances here.<<<
Why bring up a hypothetical that is completely different from the facts of this case? She has made no claim that she was raped. I’d imagine if she had become pregnant as a result of being raped, the school’s reaction would have been totally different and they would have been very supportive.
With that reasoning, anything goes.
Render unto Caesar... and to God what is God’s. Here, she loses under the Caesar clause. And as a Conservative, there is a hint of responsibility that needs to be taken here as well.
It’s not about “her”, it’s about what’s best for the students.
We have become a “me first” society and some people’s reactions to this story are proof.
The school handled this correctly.
So. We should condone (endorse) immoral behaviour in a Christian environment or else that person will go on to have an abortion.
Are you listening to yourself?
She will serve a greater good: youngsters who see this story will learn there are consequences to bad choices.’
Again, this isn’t about what’s best for HER, it’s about what’s best for the students.
“Really? And how do you see Catholics handling the kind of problem they have with pedo priests?”
All too often, not very well at all.
The Bible has other penalties for fornication and/or adultery ("Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil." Matthew 5:17) which most jurisdictions do not enforce.
What does the Bible say to do under these circumstances?
No BC is 100% sure even when used correctly.
“Maybe she should sue the owner of the penis she was playing with.”
I expect she will and she should.
Nothing wrong? Didn't commit either fornication or adultery?
Maybe I missed something, but NOWHERE IN THE ARTICLE is the word "rape" even mentioned. You must be pro-death to come up with the typical pro-abortion canard.
I'm sure there'd be an exception if that were the truth, but, I'm sorry, I didn't see rape even mentioned, nor did she hint that she was in anyway put upon.
Not but the chance of a failure causing a pregnancy is extremely low.
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