Posted on 09/20/2005 4:57:50 PM PDT by GladesGuru
Saying her First Amendment free-speech rights have been violated, a Florida teacher says she plans to sue the Orange County School Board after being suspended without pay when a Spanish-language newspaper printed a letter she wrote to a U.S. congressman complaining about the impact of foreigners on the nation.
WND Exclusive BRAVE NEW SCHOOLS Teacher 'demonized' over letter to politicians Says she'll sue after Spanish paper prints note complaining about foreigners Posted: September 20, 2005 1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Ron Strom © 2005 WorldNetDaily.com
Saying her First Amendment free-speech rights have been violated, a Florida teacher says she plans to sue the Orange County School Board after being suspended without pay when a Spanish-language newspaper printed a letter she wrote to a U.S. congressman complaining about the impact of foreigners on the nation.
The controversy began when a hand-written letter written by Jan Hall, 59, to several elected officials was published last month in El Nuevo Dia, a Spanish daily newspaper.
In her letter, Hall said she believed immigrants in Florida were taking jobs poor Americans should have and were using up too many public services, especially public schools, without paying into the system.
She also mentioned her problem with the presence of Puerto Ricans at her school – both students and teachers.
Hall said she rejected the offers because officials did not address her key issue – investigating how a principal at Englewood Elementary handled her complaints when a student battered her in 2002 so badly she underwent reconstructive surgery.
Later, Hall's attorney announced plans to file a $20 million lawsuit against board members.
(Excerpt) Read more at worldnetdaily.com ...
The Puerto Rican students wanting an education (most of them), the parents of all students at that school, and the tax payers who will most certainly have to pay the inevitable judgement are also "victims".
Such conditions are probably more common than we know.
Does anyone know of similar problems? If so, I would like to know, and I am sure the FR community would, too.
There is no freedom of speech in this country. If you speak the "wrong" opinion, you can lose your job, you can be passed over for promotion, you can be vilified. Freedom of speech does not exist only for left wingers and PC morons. If you don't like my opinions, STFU, I don't care.
People can't take hearing what they don't like anymore. And may heaven help your soul if you are white and you dare speak out against the actions of a "minority".
Ping! Thought you might be interested in reading this.
This is an interesting case. Its always a worth observing how wonderful tolerance is when one isn't a member of a protected class. I hope this teacher wins her case.
She is 59, has 28 years experience (according to her letter), I bet they settle, give her an upgraded early retirement and this slips into oblivion.
So you are fine with the theft and misuse of a personal letter by a person employed by Congress?
This is not just a "free speech" issue, but also calls into play the right "to petition the government for a redress of grievances," which is also in the First Amendment. Can you say big bucks under 42 U.S.C.S. Sec. 1983? Sure, I thought you could.
A school supported by Govt (tax dollars) is not private.
I don’t’ know what that’s about. WND has a way of presenting half the truth.
If she said something really racist, not just anti-illegal immigrant, which it probably was if she complained of PR teachers, then she should have been fired. Schools have morality standards. A teacher lost her job here in Key Largo a few years ago for getting pregnant twice without being married. (And no, they didn’t want her to abort it.)
She has already shown me more than 99% of the politicians, maybe a career change is in order. We need to start pushing these people into politics rather than wait for the political establishment to dress up some unknown and present him or her to us as our new leaders.
The concept of free speech is constantly abused. In my town of Nashville it was cited to protect exotic dancers from an ordinance forbidding lap-dancing. Nothing free about that sort of "speech".
Ahhhh, she worked FOR the government and was fired by the GOVERNMENT for something she said TO THE GOVERNMENT.
The letter was a private letter to a politician who then EXPOSED her knowing fiull well the GOVERNMENT would fire or otherwise discipline her in some manner.
I'm sorry, but as hard as I try to sympathize with this woman, I keep coming back to one, single, inescapable conclusion: She deserved it.
Wouldn't the Orange County School Board come under that heading?
Wow. That is shocking. Seriously, no one deserves to be fired for expression an opinion in a private letter to her Congressman.
As much as I support this woman, I have to say that her free speech has not been violated. With free speech comes consequences. The Constitution assures that those consequences cannot be arrest, persecution, prosecution, or conviction and a jail term from the government. It doesn't protect you from pissing off your employer, no matter how misguided he or she is.
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