Reverse descrimination suit.

Do I have a reverse descrimination suit?My boss and the 2 teachers I worked with are both gay. Both the other teachers have other jobs with substantial pay. I depended on this job as my only source of income. The owner stated there were no problems with my performance (they keep me for 5 wks after they told me I was fired. I can prove I had excellent reviews from my students. I believe that I was let go because of personal problems with one of the other teachers. I left another job to take this one. I was told if the new school that I worked at didn't do well I could work at his other one. They hired another teacher I believe after I was terminated.

I was recently let go. The following were the stated reasons.
1. Lack of students (I worked for a career college). Financially they couldn't keep 3 teachers.
2. Lack of Bachelor's degree. (They always knew I didn't have a degree. I was highly certified).
Please help this is the first time I have ever done anything like this.

1 answer  |  asked Jun 27, 2004 5:09 PM [EST]  |  applies to Arizona

Answers (1)

Francis Fanning
You can't have reverse discrimination without discrimination

Your question is whether you have a "reverse discrimination" lawsuit. I guess you are laboring under the assumption that there is a law that protects homosexuals from discrimination on account of sexual orientation. There is no such law. Some cases have held that sexual harrassment of a gay person violates the Civil Rights Act's prohibition of discrimination on account of sex, but that's as far as the courts have gone on this issue.
More importantly, your assumption that because your boss and the other teachers are gay, they must be singling you out because you are straight is not evidence of discrimination. The reasons given for your termination are legitimate unless you can prove they are a pretext. For example, if one of the other teachers doesn't have a bachelor's degree, that may show that your lack of a degree doesn't make you less qualified than the other teacher. But until Congress amends the civil rights laws to prohibit sexual orientation discrimination, it really doesn't matter what you can prove.
By the way, the term "reverse discrimination" is based upon the erroneous assumption that the Civil Rights Act protects only minorities and women. Race and sex discrimination are illegal, regardless of the race or sex of the victim.

posted by Francis Fanning  |  Jun 28, 2004 3:38 PM [EST]

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