Fired Teacher Files Baseless Complaint

Marie Baines, the Loretto High School Teacher who was fired for volunteering at a Planned Parenthood clinic just days before she began teaching at the CATOLIC High School, has filed a complaint of wrongful termination:

"Loretto rightly prides itself as an academic institution committed to vigorous debate of ideas and beliefs," said Bain's attorney, John M. Poswall of Sacramento. "Unfortunately, the action of the bishop, cowering to noisy fundamentalists, threatens to turn Loretto into a Taliban-style institution of thought control and repression."

Wow, tell us your true feelings, Mr. Poswall! What’s next, a comparison of Pope John Paul to Osama Bin Laden?

Poswall stated in the complaint that Bain's firing constituted sexual discrimination because it targeted "her beliefs and actions related to women's reproductive rights" and sought to make "an example of her as a woman, to other young women."

That is a very large stretch. If any court believes that, I will be seriously concerned about the state of our judiciary.

School officials knew Bain was not a Catholic and had her "own personal beliefs" when they hired her in August, Poswall stated.

Punishing her for having supported opposing values in the past is tantamount to religious discrimination, Poswall said.

Well, let’s see, she is teaching at a Catholic High School. Does a Catholic High School not have the right to discriminate based on religion?

Regarding the free speech claim, Poswall argued that Bain's volunteering was akin to a "political activity," which is a protected class of speech and a "fundamental right of all California employees."

So if an NAACP employee participated in a KKK march just days before his hiring, and the NAACP did not find out until later, would the NAACP be required to retain him?

Just analyzing the absurdity of these arguments, folks.

I was also informed this evening that my letter to the editor of the Bee on Katelyn Sill's expulsion will be printed Monday, so look for that.