New York teacher fired over topless selfie plans to sue school district
New York teacher fired over topless selfie plans to sue school district
BELLPORT, Long Island -- A middle school teacher from Long Island is planning to sue her former school district after she was fired, she alleges, for a topless selfie.
Lauren Miranda, 25, has taught math at Bellport Middle School for the past four years.
She says a topless selfie she took of herself in her bedroom in 2016 and sent to a former boyfriend who also teaches in the school district somehow leaked to at least one student at the middle school.
Miranda's attorney John Ray says the superintendent of the South Country School District told Miranda she was being fired because she could no longer serve as a role model for the students. In January, she was placed on administrative leave with pay and was fired by the school board last Wednesday.
Both Miranda and Ray say they have no idea how the photo ended up in a student's hands.
Miranda is planning to file a $3 million federal suit for gender discrimination, alleging her rights as a woman were violated. She said she will not file the lawsuit if the school district gives her her job back.
"What is wrong with my image?" she said. "It's my breasts. It's my chest. It's my body. It's something that should be celebrated."
Ray said the school district is discriminating against Miranda because she's a woman.
"Anytime a man has ever exposed his chest, no one has ever commented or had any problem with it whatsoever," he said. "But when a woman displays her chest, as happened here, she's get fired from her job."
Miranda provided Eyewitness News with her review from last school year, which showed her to be a "highly effective teacher."
The teacher observation review stated, "Ms. Miranda demonstrated in this lesson to be an outstanding Math instructor, knowledgeable of her content area, but most of all genuinely dedicated to the academic progress of her students."
Miranda was up for tenure in June and said one of the reasons she is pursuing a lawsuit is to serve as a role model for female students.
"What message is that saying to the girls who have their photos airdropped all over the high school and sent all over?" she said. "What message are we sending to them? To roll over when your picture gets exposed without your permission or consent? So how am I now not being a role model to them?"
The school district would not make anyone available to Eyewitness News to speak about the situation, only saying in a statement on behalf of Superintendent of Schools Dr. Joseph Giani, "The district does not comment on active litigation."
Eyewitness News reporter Kristin Thorne spoke with parents about the picture.
"Whether her intentions were for a student to get it or they weren't, a student did and you have to be responsible for your actions," parent Randy Miller said.
Parent Arlene Henao said she is torn, because it appears Miranda never had any intention of a student getting a hold of the picture.
"I understand why she would be fired, but it's probably more complicated than just a black and white situation," she said.
In 2019 this sort of story doesn't seem very unusual, but after watching the video and reading the article a couple things struck me.
One is her "theory of the case" or her defense. It is that women's "chests" are no different than men's chests and if it is ok for a man to send a selfie of himself bare chested then the same thing should apply to women.
And secondly, she suggests that rather than being a poor role model for her students, she is actually an appropriate role model for girl students because many girls want to send nude photos of themselves to boys (presumably) and her case shows them that it is ok to do so (and vice versa -because students do it too, why is the school singling her out).
It may not seem fair to many, but they are different and that's just real life. Not a good argument in her defense. She would do better to play the victim whose privacy has been violated.
How so? Do men not have nipples? Can they not lactate under the right conditions?
"All male and female mammals have mammary glands, which is the organ that produces milk. When mammary glands mature fully in females during puberty, they develop into a state where a hormonal spike—most notably of prolactin—can easily induce lactation. For males, the gland generally doesn’t mature to that level."
I've seen some men's breasts that, if not being shown the whole picture, would be nearly indistinguishable from women's breasts.
Except that one is considered sexual and the other isn't. Most people born and raised on this planet understand that. Where have you hidden your spaceship?
In some countries the sight of a woman's ankle or bare arms is considered sexual. And in Europe, women's bare breasts are often seen at the beach or breastfeeding. So that means what is or isn't considered "sexual" is fluid and can be as oppressive as single eye hole hijabs or as free as nudist colonies or topless beaches.
You claimed "they are different and that's just real life". All I'm pointing out is that is a very subjective perspective and not actually factual in that both men and women have breasts, both have nipples, both have breast tissue and in the right conditions or with hormone therapy a man can lactate and nurse a baby just like a woman. So on the physical level, they are the same, though some might have a bit longer hairs around the nipple than the others.
Personally, I think we should be going the other way with this and making men cover up. Then we'd be treating men and women equally as we should. If women can be banned from taking off their shirts in public, then men should follow the same rules. Most of the men taking off their shirts at the beach nowadays in America have more of a beer keg than a six pack anyway...
Women's breasts have always been considered erotic and men's breasts have not.
Maybe that is changing, but it hasn't changed yet.
I don't think they should have fired her though. Just a warning not to let it happen again.
Just like how in many Muslim countries women's ankles, necks and bare arms are considered erotic. Maybe that is changing, but it hasn't changed yet. So because of that it's reasonable to treat women differently than men and force them to cover up or be subjected to fines and punishment, right? Why does it seem that it's always everybody else's business what women wear or do with their bodies? It's as if they were nothing but objects owned in some sort of patriarchal society...
Who cares? After we all saw The First Lady's boobs there isn't much left to see...
I don't think it would be a good idea to have nude selfies of teachers becoming standard fare at a school. Just a guess.
In general you are right, but I think a school setting is handled differently.
And school age children can see them on the internets....
Not of their teacher. Middle school in some places includes 8th grade which would be 13 year olds.
No, just our First Lady.
The internet is open for all.
This is a problematic issue.
On one hand, she is free to do what she wants to on her free time.
But as a teacher, I see it as a huge impropriety. It impacts on her position in the classroom.
Frankly, I think this should be grounds for her dismissal.
She didn't intend for her photo to go public. Sounds to me like she was hacked by a student.
That's what she said, Trout. I was a teacher and we were told to keep our private lives, private.
Not that I'm one for sending nude selfies to my husband, but it just seems unfair that something like this can get you fired. It's not like she sent it to a student
Well .... the Internet is not known for its fairness that's for sure.
When teachers are not hired for jobs, all internet information is looked at. And while she might have not intended it for her students, it was out there. This is something I have hammered home with my daughters. Don't put anything on your computers that you don't want out in the world since it is now possible to do that. That is also why I don't have an Alexa in my home. I don't need someone listening to my discussions. Even alarm systems have fallen prey to this.
But as a teacher, since you are working with kids, respect should be there at all times and this undermines that. She might have not meant it for student consumption but that is what happened.
There was a time that one could reasonably be expected to not know that.
The horse has left the barn and is now several counties over.
Its too bad but i expect her lawsuit is going nowhere.
IMO that says it all, and anyone who is not aware of that these days doesn't have the wherewithall to be in ANY position of authority.
Maybe this country needs to be less prudish.
Nothing good comes from nude selfies.
Just ask Anthony Weiner
LOL agreed.
In the age of digital photography and the forever internet, I recommend not taking any picture of yourself you wouldn't mind the whole world seeing.