A Vancouver music teacher claims she was effectively fired after school officials found out she was a lesbian and her partner had given birth. Lisa Reimer has told Canadian media her classes at Little Flower Academy were cancelled and she was told to mark schoolwork from home until her one-year temporary employment contract expires in June. The orders apparently came after parents complained they didn't like a lesbian teaching their children. Reimer says it amounts to dismissal. "I feel like I've been fired with a payout," she told reporters. "All the families have been told I am on a personal leave, which I am not." The school claims she was not fired and remains in contract until the end of June. However it admits it decided not to allow her to continue teaching her students after she identified herself as a lesbian whose partner was pregnant. Little Flower Academy says when Reimer was hired, she signed a contract that included a "Catholicity clause" that indicated she would observe or conform to the tenets of the Catholic faith.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Saturday, 1st May 2010 - 5:47pm