In Hamilton v. Southland Christian Sch., Inc., No. 6:10-cv-00871-ACC-DAB (11th Cir. May 16, 2012), the court reversed summary judgment granted to a religious school on a teacher’s Title VII claim for pregnancy discrimination when she was terminated after becoming pregnant out of wedlock. The court ruled that the teacher had presented evidence that, in making the decision to terminate her, the school was more concerned about her pregnancy and her request to take maternity leave than about her admission that she had premarital sex. The principal stated in his deposition that, even though the teacher engaged in premarital sex, “if, in fact, she would have said to us I’m sorry that I’ve sinned against the Lord and this school, we would not be here.” The teacher testified that she had, in fact, said something like this, creating a genuine issue of material fact about the reason the school terminated her. The court ruled that the school abandoned the ministerial exception doctrine as a defense by failing to list it as an issue on appeal.
Register Now As you are not an existing subscriber please register for your free daily legal newsfeed service.
RegisterIf you have any questions about the service please contact customerservices@lexology.com or call Lexology Customer Services on +44 20 7234 0606.
Teacher states claims for pregnancy discrimination against religious school
- Holland & Knight LLP
- Nathan Adams and Kenneth Jenero
- USA
- June 11 2012
-
If you are interested in submitting an article to Lexology, please contact Andrew Teague at ateague@lexology.com.
![]()
Monique Greene
Corporate Counsel
Powershop
