本帖最後由 habitrailspace 於 2010-4-30 08:01 編輯
http://www.globaltvbc.com/Vancou ... /2961849/story.html
Sexual orientation led to firing, teacher claims
Jeff Lee, Vancouver Sun: Thursday, April 29, 2010
A Vancouver music teacher and founder of a children's choir says she was effectively fired from Little Flower Academy, an independent Catholic school, after school officials learned she was a lesbian whose partner just gave birth.
Lisa Reimer said on Wednesday her music classes were cancelled and she was told to work from home marking papers until her one-year temporary employment contract with the school expires in June.
But she said the effect of the orders, which came after the school apparently received complaints from parents who didn't like a homosexual instructor teaching their children, amounts to dismissal.
"I feel like I've been fired with a payout," she told reporters at a news conference.
"All the families have been told I am on a personal leave, which I am not."
She said the school took the action just as she was preparing to return to work after a three-week leave following the birth of her son.
But in a statement issued late in the day, Celso Boscariol, the chairman of the school's board of directors, disputed Reimer's version of events. He said she "has not been fired, and she remains in the services of LFA until June 30 and will continue to be paid accordingly."
He said school administration met with Reimer when she wanted to return to work "to discuss projects consistent with the music theory curriculum. The school understood that her proposed role was acceptable and the matter was resolved."
However, he said he would look into Reimer's allegations that she was told not to come to the school or have direct contact with any students.
Education Minister Margaret MacDiarmid said she only knows of the case through media reports but is concerned by what she's heard.
"I am concerned about what I have heard and I have asked ministry staff to look into this," she said. "Stepping way back, there are labour laws, human rights laws in British Columbia and they have to be followed. They apply to everyone. The law is the law."
Reimer told reporters that she was recruited by Little Flower Academy last year to take over as a music teacher and choirmaster on a one-year contract while the regular teacher was on maternity leave. At the time, she was on a leave herself from the Vancouver School District, and she will return to the district in September. Her partner is also a teacher on leave from the school district.
Reimer said she signed a contract with Little Flower Academy that included a clause indicating that as a non-Catholic she would not speak out against the Catholic faith or try to influence students with non-Catholic values, something she said she would never do anyway. She said her sexual orientation was never discussed.
It was only when she went to the school administration last December to arrange a short parental leave once her partner was to give birth that they officially became aware she was a lesbian, she said.
She said she met with school principal Marcelle DeFreitas and vice-principal Diane Little in January and was told the school doesn't give parental leave but that she could take up to 15 days sick leave to be with her partner. At the time, they were excited for her future child, she said, but they also warned her that if word got out and parents complained, they "might have to dismiss me."
Reimer said she took sick leave three weeks ago after her partner gave birth to a boy. She expected to return to work last Monday, but a few days before that received an urgent e-mail from DeFreitas saying they had to meet to discuss her future.
When she went to the meeting, she was told that parents had complained about the image of a lesbian teacher teaching their daughters, she said.
"They said families at LFA would not accept that and they would not allow a gay or lesbian teacher to educate their girls for fear that it would lead them astray," she said.
Reimer is the founding artistic director of Vancouver's Zing! Children's Choir, whose honorary patrons are Bramwell Tovey, the conductor of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, and Diane Loomer. She is also a director on the board of the B.C. Choral Federation.
She said she is angry the school cancelled the classes and worries about the message it sends to students. "I think it tells them it is okay to be bigoted and to be homophobic and that it's okay to make deals behind closed doors with no witnesses," she said. "I really care about the girls and am really proud of them and enjoyed working with them."
She said being told she would be kept on staff but not allowed to teach was wrong. "They are not going to have classes for 10 weeks. Little Flower Academy is saying that is okay, we can ignore the B.C. curriculum. A choir class with no choir, no rehearsal? That is like doing [physical education] online."
Boscariol confirmed in his statement that Reimer — whom he did not identify by name — asked the school for the leave. "When the teacher announced that she and her same-sex partner were planning to have a baby in April, she requested leave. The school encouraged the teacher to take the leave owed to her and use it at the time of the baby's birth," he wrote. "She did so when the baby was born earlier this month. She then advised the school she was ready to return to work. A meeting took place between the school and the teacher to discuss projects consistent with the music theory curriculum. The school understood that her proposed role was acceptable and the matter was resolved."
He said the school was surprised at Reimer's initial press release claiming she was fired, which was issued through the B.C. Pride Education Network, because the school hadn't fired her. Boscariol told The Vancouver Sun he was away on business and was trying to get more details.
In 2001, the Supreme Court of Canada upheld a lower-court ruling that religious education institutions have the right to dictate "morality" conditions. The case involved B.C.'s Trinity Western University, which required students to refrain from gay sex and other "biblically condemned'' practices.
The court, in a majority decision, said teachers have every right to their beliefs as long as they don't act on them in the classroom. Reimer said she never discussed her sexual orientation with students and she did not disclose to her colleagues that she was a lesbian.
Little Flower Academy has an enrolment of about 450 students and is accredited as a Group 1 independent school by the provincial education ministry. As a result, it received 50 per cent of the per-pupil funding given to public schools within the Vancouver School District. The ministry said that subsidy is $4,007.50 per student, meaning this year the school will receive just over $1.8 million in public funds.
Glen Hansman, a vice-president with the Vancouver Elementary School Teachers' Association, who moderated Reimer's press conference, said recent polls have suggested two-thirds of British Columbians don't want the province to fund private independent schools. "Here is another reason why. If private schools, independent schools in B.C. are accepting funds, they need to operate under the same standards that public schools do," Hansman said. "They have to abide by the B.C. Human Rights Code and they cannot be discriminating against people like Lisa on the basis of their family status or sexual orientation." |
發表於 2010-4-29 22:57
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