Lauren Miranda, Teacher Fired For Racy Selfie Speaks, About The Message Her Termination Sends To Students
A New York teacher was recently fired over a scandalous photo of herself, and now she’s fighting back by suing the school she used to work at. Lauren Miranda was a math teacher at the Bellport Middle School on Long Island. She’d been working at the school since 2015. In 2016 she took a topless selfie of herself in her bedroom that she sent to her boyfriend at the time. He is also a teacher at Bellport. The picture was released, allegedly by her ex-boyfriend, and somehow made its way into a middle school student’s possession, according to ABC News.
Miranda didn’t give permission for her photo to be released and certainly didn’t give consent for it to be sent around the school where she worked. Nevertheless, school officials, as well as some parents, agree that she needs to take responsibility for her actions. The reason the school gave for firing her was that she was no longer a role model for the students.
Middle school math teacher Lauren Miranda says she was fired from her job for a topless selfie that leaked to students. The South Country School district says she’s no longer a role model. She’s suing for $3 million for gender discrimination pic.twitter.com/HIypibwUeE
— Kristin Thorne (@KristinThorne) April 1, 2019
Miranda won’t be going down without a fight. If Bellport doesn’t hire her back, she will be suing the school for $3 million. At a recent news conference, she slammed the school’s decision to terminate her employment and questioned the sort of message it may send to young female students.
“What is wrong with my image? It’s my breasts. It’s my chest. It’s my body. It’s something that should be celebrated. What message are we sending to them? To roll over when your picture gets exposed without your permission or consent?”
Her attorney, John Ray, pointed out that men do not face this kind of scrutiny when they take a photo without a shirt on or go out in public without being fully dressed.
“Any time a man has ever exposed his chest, no one has ever commented or had any problem with it whatsoever. But, when a woman displays her chest, as happened here, she gets fired from her job.”
Prior to this incident, Miranda was deemed “a highly effective teacher” in her report from just last year. She was up for tenure in June and showed extensive skill not only in math, but as someone who truly cared for her students.
“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,” the review read.
It’s not yet been specified whether or not the individual who allegedly released the photo of Miranda will face any sort of legal consequences. The school does not intend to comment publicly regarding the teacher’s plan to file a lawsuit.
