When transgender teacher Christine Hamlett applied for a new position within the Newark, New Jersey school district, she had to undergo a criminal background check.
Unfortunately, that check revealed that she had been arrested in the 1970s for pot possession and shoplifting.
As a result, Hamlett was assigned to one of the infamous “rubber rooms” — where teachers and other educational employees “awaiting employment proceedings” pretty much just sit around all day.
She claimed her arrests were due to “medical and hormonal treatments she was undergoing to prepare for her reassignment surgery.”
Hamlett is now suing the district for the “rubber room” banishment, and contends district officials were miffed at her involvement in local gay and lesbian matters.
Hamlett claims union officials suggested she simply go away.
She didn’t.
Hamlett apparently used her extra free time to champion gay and lesbian causes, and served as a board member on the city’s LGBT task force.
“As Plaintiff became increasingly involved within the LGBTQ community and more visible on a state and national basis, NPS became determined to find ways to lessen her influence and involvement in these projects in NPS and elsewhere as this was not an issue it believed should be a priority,” the lawsuit states, according to NJ.com.
The district eventually terminated Hamlett in February 2013.
“Of course I was devastated. I was devastated because it seemed disrespectful. Because of the way it was handled,” she said.
Hamlett’s lawsuit alleges wrongful termination and seeks an unspecified payout for an ulcer and other issues she contends are related to the stress of her employment ordeal.
The attorney for the district has “filed a motion to dismiss two of the three counts in the case.”
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