OC Church Within Rights to Fire Preschool Teacher for Living in Sin

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A church preschool director who lost her job because she lives with her boyfriend also lost her case against the church in court last week, reports the OC Register.

Sara Henry was hired by the Red Hill Lutheran Church in Tustin in 2002. She later moved in with her boyfriend, and the two had a baby. According to KTLA, Henry assured the church that she'd marry her baby daddy soon. But apparently it wasn't soon enough -- tongues began to wag amongst the parents of Henry's students about her living arrangements, at which point church administrators stepped in and gave her a decision: get married, or get fired.

So just to be clear: commit the rest of your life to someone you may or may not want to marry, or lose your means of supporting yourself and your child. Neighborly!

Henry decided not to get married, so she lost her job. She sued the church for wrongful termination last year and lost, then appealed that decision and lost as well. The Register explains:

The court denied Henry's wrongful termination claim saying the church does not qualify as an "employer" under the California Fair Employment Act and Housing and she was fired for religious reasons for which the church and school are exempt under the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

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By Jessica Pauline Ogilvie in News on December 13, 2011 11:00 AM 0 Comments

Comments [rss]

mallhonitor

It's shit like this that makes me embarrassed to be Christian sometimes. If they're going to fire her for living in sin, then they should fire themselves as well.

mark vallianatos

you forgot the quotes around "living in sin"

Alaia Williams

While I think this is a bad reason to fire someone, I can't quite hold it against the church, though I wish I could.

For example, I went to a Christian university (oh, memories...). We basically signed contracts saying that we'd go to chapel three times a week and wouldn't engage in certain behaviors on (and sometimes off) campus. I don't know if she signed something like that to be employed by this church, but if she agreed to play by the rules ahead of time and then didn't continue to comply....

My school, for example, but you on "chapel probation" if you missed 10 chapels. A lot of people complained when this came to be their fate, and I even ended up on it myself a few times, but I never complained because I knew what was asked of me, I signed the papers, and so on...

Many churches wouldn't mind her situation, but many would. So, it sucks for sure. But I'd be curious if they had some kind of living/moral code she had to sign in advance.

Paul

I was going to say - the moral code was the BIBLE!

But then I saw this: "According to court papers, Henry had to sign a paper at the beginning of
each school year agreeing to the school's religious morals. Though a
Catholic, the school required teachers to be practicing Christians
"involved in a church-based setting on a regular basis.""