Substitute teacher says religion, not blue hair, behind trouble

[karyn]

December 28, 2007

Jennifer Harmon was recently fired from her substitute teaching job at a Vivian school. The school's principal said it was because of her blue hair and nose piercing, but Harmon says it may have more to do with religion. (Greg Pearson/The Times)



By Alison Bath
alisonbath1@gannett.com

Watch out Cookie Monster. Being blue isn't cool in Vivian.

Ask Jennifer Harmon. The 39-year-old mother of one recently was told her blue hair was unacceptable after nearly a week of substitute teaching at Vivian Elementary/Middle School.

But Harmon, whose appearance has remained the same since early 2006 and was evident during her substitute application process, doesn't think it was her hair color or an accompanying nose piercing that got her in trouble. Rather, it was religion.

The same early December day a fellow substitute teacher asked if she was Wiccan, Harmon found herself in Principal Jamie (Rene) Tolbert's office answering questions about her appearance and whether she had discussed religion with students.

"Not only was I extremely confused and upset because I was never made aware of any policy prohibiting teachers from having blue hair and nose piercings, but when (Tolbert) asked me about religion I started to panic," said Harmon, who said she is not Wiccan and does not subscribe to any particular religious faith. "Of course, I never spoke to the children about religion. I would never do such a thing."

Wicca is a pagan faith centered on veneration of the Earth. It emphasizes peace, not harming living things and observance of ancient religious traditions. The religion is often misunderstood and some view it as anti-Christian.

Mary Nash Robinson, Caddo schools' assistant superintendent of human resources, said Tolbert addressed Harmon's appearance after receiving a parental complaint. Tolbert, who did not return this newspaper's calls for this story, initially didn't think there would be a problem, Robinson said.

"It became an issue with a number of parents at that time," Robinson said of the meeting Dec. 6 between Tolbert and Harmon. "The principal made (Harmon) aware of her concerns as soon as the concerns were made known to her."

Religion only was discussed because Tolbert also was told by a teacher at the school that Harmon had talked about faith with students. That teacher was made aware of the situation by another teacher, who had been told by a parent, Robinson said.

Robinson could not specify how many complaints Tolbert received about Harmon's appearance.

She also did not know whether complaints about Tolbert's appearance and allegations of talking about religion in the classroom were from the same or separate sources.

But Robinson said asking Harmon about her religious affiliation was inappropriate. Federal employment law forbids discrimination based on age, disability, national origin, race, religion or sex.

"An adult should know better than to ask those kinds of questions on a school campus," Robinson said.

While school district policy addresses the appearance of students, dress and grooming of teachers and other workers is at the discretion of each school's principal.

General guidelines require staff members to be professional in their dress and state that attire and personal grooming should not be a distraction to students, Robinson said.

"There are some schools (where staffers) can't wear jeans at all and some you can wear jeans on spirit days," Robinson said. "It kind of depends on the culture of the program."

Harmon said she hasn't received any notice from the school district that she is ineligible to substitute. However, she has not been asked to work since the meeting with Tolbert.

Follow-up calls to Robinson to confirm Harmon's status were not immediately returned.

Harmon said she is confused and hurt. She had taken care to always dress professionally, and school staff members and parents had commended her on her work, she said.

Harmon also can't figure out why someone would think she is Wiccan.

"I felt like I had been hit with a brick," said Harmon, who volunteers at the school and started substitute teaching in late November. "I felt betrayed by (Tolbert), who knew who I was and what I looked like and had given me every indication that I was liked, accepted and appreciated. It was a very bad moment."

Since the meeting, Harmon said, teachers and parents have rallied to support her.

"Her hair and her nose piercing are not a distraction to the children. And she has always dressed very modestly around all of the students she has taught," parent and friend Jessika Perkins says in an e-mail to The Times. "What has happened to her was discrimination. Anyone who takes the time to look past what they see will agree with me that she is one of the most giving and best people you will ever meet."

Harmon said she would like to continue teaching but should not have to alter her appearance.

"I did a great job. I am so proud of the work I did that week. It was wonderful."

[athenahollow]

That's bullshit on either account. Whether she was pagan or not, it's a matter of she wasn't pushing it on the kids, so there was no problems.

[Cafe_Post_Mortem]

The catch is, right or wrong you can fire someone fore having blue hair, having an 'unprofessional appearance' or cause 'it is just not working out'. Unless you are in a union you can be fired for almost any reason as long as it is not race, religion, sex or ethnicity. Of course, if the employer is minimally clever they can always get around the few restrictions there are by say firing the wiccan cause they just don't fit in.

That is why she is trying to prove she was fired for being wiccan. Hopefully the fact that they did not ask her to conform to a dresscode will go in her favor. Although the fact that she is a substitute could work against her. It is easy to say that her name just didn't come up.

[Mr Karl]

you know...I think the world could go for a few thousand years break from all these religions

[Pull~My~Hair]

i have a friend whos a preschool teacher and she recently got fired for telling a student to do unto others as he would have done unto him, the parent went to the school and complained that she was teaching him religious morals and they fired her. I think people complain about shit just because they know they can...

[athenahollow]

It's the same society that let a woman sue ( and win against ) McDonald's for spilling coffee on herself, so I'm honestly not shocked, just a bit disturbed.

[drewblood]

whats a vivian school?

[athenahollow]

Vivian is the town the school is in

[evilstonermonkey]

It's the same society that let a woman sue ( and win against ) McDonald's for spilling coffee on herself, so I'm honestly not shocked, just a bit disturbed.

yeah, that pisses me off. she sues them for their coffee being hot... had it been cold she would have taken it back. now all cafes have little 'content of this cup are xtremely hot" labels on them, which is pointless. and toy companies having to put moronic labels on things, like little kids superman costumes having "this costume does not allow the wearer to fly" on the packaging, so that they arent responsible if mum and dad let junior jump off the roof. the world should be like a reality show, we should be able to vote people off it.

"sorry karl, but the word voted and we're just going to have to fire you into the sun."