Costello & Mains, P.C., civil rights and employment law advocates, strongly condemn homophobic "gay-bashing" Facebook postings apparently made or endorsed by a Union Township high school teacher.
"If the investigation proves that teacher Vicki Knox in fact made or endorsed these statements," says partner Kevin Costello, "then she should be immediately terminated. New Jersey is a secular state in a secular country. People are free to believe as they wish privately and in their houses of worship, but government must remain free of the grasp of the religious dogma and religiously inspired bigotry. The sorts of pseudo-religious nonsense spouted in the Facebook postings attributed to Ms. Knox have great capacity to widely injure and damage young minds, to cause them long term shame and suffering at the hands of a trusted teaching figure and to publicly humiliate hundreds of people."
Partner Deborah Mains puts it even more bluntly: "A teacher is vested with a great degree of trust. Whether or not these were ‘private’ postings makes no difference. Using words like ‘perversion’ and ‘sin’ to describe some of the very students that this teacher is expected to mold and educate means that this person is entirely irresponsible when it comes to separating privately held beliefs from public duty."
Deborah adds, "She should have known that such dialogues would immediately become public and that, given her public position of responsibility and trust, that both her own credibility and that of the school district that she serves would be irreparably damaged by such bigotry and hatred."
The employment and
civil rights law attorneys at Costello & Mains, P.C. are dedicated to protecting the rights of New Jersey workers, students and families. If you suspect that your employment, educational or civil rights have been violated, visit http://www.costellomains.com/ today for a free legal evaluation of your claim. We protect everyone from Wage and Hour abuse, Prevailing Wage abuse, Workplace Retaliation, Whistleblower Retaliation, Workplace Discrimination,
Workplace Harassment and from Discrimination in Places of Public Accommodation and in Schools, on the basis of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, transgendered status, ethnicity, military service, parental status, national origin, disability, national origin and handicap.
About Costello & Mains, P.C.
Kevin Costello and Deborah Mains have been fighting for the rights of the workers and families of New Jersey for nearly 35 years between them, having counseled and represented unions, workers, students and their families for their entire careers. They can fight your employment rights, harassment, retaliation, discrimination or
wrongful discharge claim in Court. If you have questions about employment rights in New Jersey, visit http://www.costellomains.com/.
