Former teachers, Jehovah's Witnesses file discrimination lawsuit against school district
By SABINA BHASIN
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Two former teachers are suing the Lee County School District saying their school's principal discriminated against them and declined to re-hire them after learning they are Jehovah's Witnesses.
Kristine and Gerardo Rosales both were hired as teachers at Orange River Elementary in Fort Myers in 2008, according to a lawsuit filed Aug. 20 in U.S. District Court in Fort Myers. The lawsuit says Principal Holly Bell learned of the couple's religious beliefs when they asked for a day off in August 2010 to attend a Jehovah's Witness convention.
Prior to that, the couple had a close relationship with Bell and received positive reviews, according to the lawsuit.
In December 2010, Bell held a faculty meeting where she demanded the entire faculty participate in a mandatory Christmas activity, emphasizing "I don't care what religion you are," according to the suit.
After the meeting, the Rosaleses wrote Bell an email explaining their religion doesn't permit celebrating Christmas. The email went unanswered, according to the lawsuit, and the Rosaleses didn't attend the Christmas event.
At that point, the lawsuit says Bell purposely failed to "engage in any meaningful communication or interaction" with the Rosaleses.
"They're not complaining about anyone else celebrating any holiday," said Paul Reid, the couple's attorney. "They totally respect the ability to celebrate different holidays. All they're saying is they could not personally do it because of their religion."
As non-tenured teachers, the Rosaleses work on year-to-year contracts. Neither was rehired.
The lawsuit says Bell failed to abide by the terms of the Rosaleses' contracts and the teachers union's collective bargaining agreement for evaluating teachers, a calculated move to deny Kristine Rosales tenure. She didn't rehire Gerardo Rosales under a "reduction in force" action, that the lawsuit says was non-existent.
The school district does not comment on pending litigation, spokesman Joe Donzelli said. Bell is still the principal at the school, he said.
"Public schools should not be holding religious events, much less compulsory ones, much less ones in which faculty are forced to attend," said Richard Bilbao, a spokesman for the ACLU of Florida, after reviewing the suit.
This is the first discrimination case involving Jehovah's Witnesses the Lee County School District has faced. The Rosaleses first filed the complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which has brought dozens of discrimination suits involving Jehovah's Witnesses.
In 2010, the EEOC sued Belk Department Stores for firing a North Carolina Jehovah's Witness after she wouldn't don a Santa hat and red apron while wrapping presents. The suit said the store should have found a way to accommodate her religious beliefs.
Another case resulted in a $1.3 million court judgment against AT&T after an employee was fired and another suspended after they skipped work to attend a convention for Jehovah's Witnesses. They weren't granted the time-off.
The Rosaleses are seeking back-pay, interest and possible reinstatement as well as compensation for other losses. They also want the school district to adopt a policy designed to address requests from employees who require religious accommodations.
