Teacher Fired For Marrying Divorced Man To Sue Catholic School

[Archaeology cat]

[quote name='CatholicCid' post='1741616' date='Jan 2 2009, 08:43 PM']It's possible the teacher's contract included a morality clause, where she is required to live according to the teachings of the Church. If so, and she violated this clause through this marriage, they are within their rights to fire her.[/quote]
I would think that's entirely possible. I had considered subbing at a Christian school in FL, but to do so I would have had to sign an agreement that I would never drink or smoke in public, and that I agreed with all their articles of faith (which I didn't). Had I signed that and someone had seen me having a drink at a restaurant, they would have no longer allowed me to be a sub.

[MissyP89]

IMO as a cradle Catholic who went to public school, I do think Catholic school employees should be held to a higher standard. When you are in a public position like that and are responsible for the education of children (especially young ones), you need to set an example for the Faith in both what you teach [i]and[/i] how you live.

By getting remarried she is making a statement for her students. The Church may teach remarriage without an annulment is wrong, but if people who are supposedly living the Faith don't abide by that, it causes confusion and scandal. This also goes for the Eucharist, as arch Cat and others have said...you can't be flippant about it, particularly when you serve as a role model.

[T-Bone _]

[quote name='Archaeology cat' post='1741624' date='Jan 2 2009, 02:24 PM']I would think that's entirely possible. I had considered subbing at a Christian school in FL, but to do so I would have had to sign an agreement that I would never drink or smoke in public, and that I agreed with all their articles of faith (which I didn't). Had I signed that and someone had seen me having a drink at a restaurant, they would have no longer allowed me to be a sub.[/quote]

There's a Christian School here, that the parents have to sign such an agreement for thier kids to attend.

[TotusTuusMaria]

And we don't know what she taught either. That is very important.

I agree... she should have been fired. I hope she is able to find another job, and I hope she comes back to the church.

[CatherineM]

If she's saying she's not Catholic anymore, and was receiving communion, perhaps the school should counter-sue for theft--of the consecrated Eucharist.

[she_who_is_not]

I knew a woman at a public school who was threatened with termination if she [b][/b][i][/i]did not abort her baby[i][/i][b][/b]!!! She resigned. I wish she had sued.

[musturde]

[quote name='Snowflake3981' post='1741369' date='Jan 2 2009, 10:05 AM']I agree with socalscout & CatherineM, the behavior of teachers does matter very much. Since teachers hold the minds of our youth, they should be held to high standards, especially when teaching in a school affiliated with the Catholic faith. If the teacher doesn't agree with the expectations that the Catholic school administrators dictate, they can teach in public schools.[/quote]

I'm just going to address every response in this one post. Going through Catholic schooling, I wasn't influenced by my teacher's personal lives in a negative way. The only people that would have influenced me on matters of the church were the Basilian Fathers and my theology teachers. In my opinion, it's none of the schools business to go this far into a teacher's personal life. If that was the case, why would any of the teachers be protestant? The theology teachers make it clear what we should and should not do in order to be good Catholics. I don't believe Catholics that have problems with the church or are in a state of great sin should be open about it to the classroom. I can't see how a teacher would bring up in conversation that her ex husband didn't get an annulment. It's none of the students business to begin with. Besides, people should be concentrating on praying after receiving the Eucharist, not on who does and doesn't receive. This is high school, not middle school.

Edited January 3, 2009 by musturde

[Norseman82]

Good for the Church! It's long overdue, and I hope it (re)starts a trend. I actually recall being told when I was younger that marrying a divorced person without an annulment was grounds for excommunication in the "good ole days".

Single Catholics have no business marrying divorced people (without annulments) when there are so many eligible never-married Catholics who are seeking good Catholic spouses.

[CatholicCid]

[quote name='musturde' post='1741854' date='Jan 3 2009, 04:35 AM']I'm just going to address every response in this one post. Going through Catholic schooling, I wasn't influenced by my teacher's personal lives in a negative way. The only people that would have influenced me on matters of the church were the Basilian Fathers and my theology teachers. In my opinion, it's none of the schools business to go this far into a teacher's personal life. If that was the case, why would any of the teachers be protestant? The theology teachers make it clear what we should and should not do in order to be good Catholics. I don't believe Catholics that have problems with the church or are in a state of great sin should be open about it to the classroom. I can't see how a teacher would bring up in conversation that her ex husband didn't get an annulment. It's none of the students business to begin with. Besides, people should be concentrating on praying after receiving the Eucharist, not on who does and doesn't receive. This is high school, not middle school.[/quote]

As also another student who went through Catholic schooling, I'd have to disagree with you.

The religion teachers and religious present did, of course, influence my views on the Church. But, so did the other teachers I interacted with, whether inside the classroom or during after school club activities. The teachers I had were role models to me, they were adults in authority whom I saw nearly everyday and whom we occasionally held casual conversations with.

Did we have non-Catholic teachers? Yes, a few. But they also clearly knew what the expectations were for them as it was stated in their contracts. It was also the same clause for Catholic teachers.

Now, I do agree that the school shouldn't needlessly be plying into the life of every teacher, that is something most Catholic schools can't afford to do (literally). However, when scandal does arise, the school cannot ignore it either. If an announcement is publicly made, then the situation does become the school's business. And in this circumstance, it appears that scandal did arise (Announced that the teacher was marrying a man who apparently had a previous marriage in the school paper), an inquiry was made (the principal asked the teacher if the man was divorced, which is a logical question given the original statement), and the principal informed her of Catholic teaching (an annulment is needed). She apparently refused and, most likely, this included a breach of her contract.

Ironically, if she had looked into an annulment, it turns out that "According to LaFortune, the ex-wife told him their previous marriage had, in fact, been annulled, something she had sought."