Florida Teacher returns to teaching following anti-gay slurs

[LSN80]

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2011/08/2...nti-gay-rant-did-not-violate-code-of-conduct/

On July 24th, 2011, millions of homosexual Americans and their supporters celebrated as the passage of gay marriage legislation in New York took effect. Around that same time, Jerry Buehl, a high school teacher in Florida, took to Facebook to vent his frustrations over the legislation:

I'm watching the news, eating dinner, when the story about New York okaying same sex unions came out and I almost threw up."“If they want to call it a union, go ahead. But don’t insult a man and woman’s marriage by throwing it in the same cesspool as same-sex whatever! God will not be mocked. When did this sin become acceptable???”

Buehl, a former teacher of the year at Mount Dora High School in Florida, was subsequently suspended by the school district for violation of the school's social media policy. The school district then launched an investigation surrounding Buehl, to determine if he violated the school's policy on social media by taking his grievances and issues to Facebook. The basis tenant of said policy is as follows:

If a faculty member feels angry or passionate about a subject, it may not be the time to share your thoughts in a post. Delay posting until you are calm and clearheaded.

Many of Buehls friends, colleagues, and relatives took him to task on Facebook for his comments. Buehl defended his comments not only under his First Amendment rights of Freedom of Speech, but also as a follower of Christ, and as a man who was distributing Christ's teachings. Buehl also noted that everything was done on his own time--at his personal computer in his own home. The school district disagreed, saying that due to the fact Buehl has over 700 FaceBook friends, the posts were public, and suspended him until further investigation. Chris Patton, communications officer for Lake County schools, developer of the social media guidelines, said the following:

"People think they're free to say what they want to, but in some aspects it can come back to haunt you. Even when they(faculty) leave the doors of the school, they’re still bound by those code ethics."

On August 25th, however, Buehl was found to not have violated the violated the school board’s code of conduct. He's been re-instated but under a condition. The school board has issued a list of directives for Buell to comply with before his return to teaching, although they've yet to be made public. In all, Buehl is expected to miss three days of teaching, unpaid, before being allowed to return.

Was Buehl right when he stated that his comments were private because he made them on his home computer on his own time? Or was the school correct in ruling them "public" due to Buehl having over 700 Facebook friends?

Did Buehl get off easy here in terms of his suspension, or was the school too harsh in suspending him in the first place? Why?

If you were to be apart of the School Board issuing said directives that Buehl must comply with before returning to teaching, is there one in particular you would most insistant upon?

Any other thoughts on this story?

 

[Dagger Dias]

Buehl's comments are technically not private due to his connections. When you are a member of an organization, whether it be as a fan of something or if it is job-related, then you represent that group outside of work/meetings. On facebook when negative things get posted by someone, it also makes any group they represent look negative too. As much as I hate to say it, he was in the wrong here. A good exercise that could be done in such a situation is to open up a word processor document. Type out all of the angry thoughts you might have. Then re-read it. Chances are you will have calmed down by that point, and the desire to post it will be gone. If it's not, re-read it again and think about the group you represent if you post something because you do not want to make them all look bad too by association. The suspension seems to have been enough to teach him a lesson in being careful of what he says. They let him return, so now is his chance to not make the same mistake again.

 

[SalvIsWin]

Buehl's comments are technically not private due to his connections. When you are a member of an organization, whether it be as a fan of something or if it is job-related, then you represent that group outside of work/meetings. On facebook when negative things get posted by someone, it also makes any group they represent look negative too. As much as I hate to say it, he was in the wrong here. A good exercise that could be done in such a situation is to open up a word processor document. Type out all of the angry thoughts you might have. Then re-read it. Chances are you will have calmed down by that point, and the desire to post it will be gone. If it's not, re-read it again and think about the group you represent if you post something because you do not want to make them all look bad too by association. The suspension seems to have been enough to teach him a lesson in being careful of what he says. They let him return, so now is his chance to not make the same mistake again.

I disagree somewhat. In my opinion, Buehl should be able to say whatever ignorant and ridiculous statements he wants on his Facebook as long as they aren't dangerous, which I don't see them as. There is your work life, where you are held accountable, but as soon as it is back to your time, you're no longer representing that workplace.

I worked at a Church less than two weeks ago before school started up again, and I frequently and openly talk about religion, and how I think it's ridiculous etc. However I don't think it's fair to say I am representing the Church when I say things like that, it's my own personal view. If the school wanted to fire him for being an ignorant ass, I wouldn't have a problem with that, but I don't think that it's fair to say that he represents them on his personal time.

 

[#hamler]

Whether public or not, Buehl shouldn't be suspended for speaking his mind on the matter. He didn't give a lesson in school on the matter, he didn't go on some rant, he didn't hold a riot on school grounds, he didn't do anything wrong here. I don't agree with the statements he made but he shouldn't be punished for speaking his mind, especially when it had nothing to do with school. I don't care what he says, it shouldn't matter to the school board. If he isn't showing discrimination to a certain group of students by spitting, cursing, assulting them, then what's the big deal? He spoke his mind, big deal. This shows me teachers aren't allowed to have personal opinions if their opinions are thought of as wrong. This school system should be embarrassed at the fact that they don't let their teachers off the leash even when you're not teaching. Who would want to work for them? I wouldn't.

 

[Davi323]

Agree with Hamler. As long as it stayed on Facebook and out of the classroom, and didn't affect his teaching, who cares? Obviously, if he brought it into the classroom, that would be different, in that case, the school should have a say. But he didn't make those comments in his capacity as a teacher, he made them as an individual, away from school, completely unrelated to his job.

However, if he was an atheist teacher who blasted Christians on Facebook instead of gay marriage, you can bet the school wouldn't have said a damn thing.

 

[Mustang Sally]

....was subsequently suspended by the school district for violation of the school's social media policy.

That's the cogent point in this topic, nothing else. Whether Buell feels his First Amendment rights were breached or whether he feels justified in interpreting the lessons espoused by Jesus Christ, the fact is he was subject to the guidelines of his employer's social media policy which, obviously, forbade using public communication vehicles to deliver his views on controversial subjects. He must have signed the damn thing or he wouldn't have been employed by the school district. He chose to violate that social media contract and the school district had the right to punish him in whatever manner spelled out by the contract.

That Buell chose to challenge the policy itself reminds me of the Pete Rose case in baseball. Although a lot of people tried to defend him on the basis that an employer shouldn't be regulating whether a player gambles on his sport, the fact is that Rose knew of the policy and chose to violate it anyway. Then, he attempted to question whether the policy should exist.

It's okay for Rose (or Buell) to challenge the feasibility of the policy, but the fact is that both men were subject to it at the time they chose to go against policy and do whatever they wanted.

For that, there are penalties, even if you eventually get the policy overturned.

 

[Serious Mozzarella]

You guys are here pretending that ALL companies don't have social media policies. When you work somewhere, especially when you're in a position of authority, you don't make an asshole out of yourself in public, especially when you're in a position that could be looked at as representative of your job.

He was lucky he landed himself a suspension, rather than a full-blown termination.

 

[Kenny Powers]

Was Buehl right when he stated that his comments were private because he made them on his home computer on his own time? Or was the school correct in ruling them "public" due to Buehl having over 700 Facebook friends?

They are public comments, even if his profile was private. He still has 700 friends and possibly faculty that can read his comments any time. I know he wants to use the 1st Amendment approach, but you can't say offensive or sexist comments to people in the workplace just like you can't on a social network.

Did Buehl get off easy here in terms of his suspension, or was the school too harsh in suspending him in the first place? Why?

I guess the suspension is the right punishment. I have heard stories about people who were terminated by their employees posting inappropriate pictures or even talking negatively about their work on Facebook.

If you were to be apart of the School Board issuing said directives that Buehl must comply with before returning to teaching, is there one in particular you would most insistent upon?

He should go through ethics training. Their are rules for every worker of an any company that are anti discrimination. That includes sex, race, religion, or sexual orientation. The man is a teacher and probably has many that are discriminated against because of their sexual orientation. Him spouting off at the mouth at the workplace or online for all the world to see shows a bad example.

Any other thoughts on this story?
This is a case of harassment. Employees don't have to necessarily talk about a person they are working with for harassment to occur. Wearing offensive clothing or hanging up offensive posters in the workplace is an example. Just like posting on Facebook your disgust with gay people. Buehl should keep his disgust for gay marriage to himself and learn some tolerance for others.

 

[The 1-2-3 Killam]

I believe that people responsible for the growth and development of children and students of all ages should hold themselves to a higher calling of responsibility and morality. So in a way I think teachers should limit what they say on Facebook and other forms of social networking, because you never know who will read it or what the end result of anything you say will be.

However, in no way do I agree that an institution should be able to suspend, fine, or fine a person because of something they say on the internet on their own free time (pending it's not harassment or some sort of illegal activity that gives the employer the right to fire them). Maybe he shouldn't have said what he said, but that is something he should deal with, because that's what adults do. They control their own life and hold themselves accountable for their own actions. I'm very much sick of our culture and society needing the rules and government to hold their hands through everything.

I don't agree with what he said. But I think he has every right to speak his mind. It's a very common belief in modern Christianity that homosexuality is a sin and should not be tolerated. I don't agree with that, but it's his right to say whatever he believes. I'm glad he's going back to work, and I hope he's not harassed by his students or colleagues. I do hope he finds a way to be a bit more open-minded, but again this all comes down to personal responsibility. Hold yourself to a higher standard, and understand the basic rules and principles of your job as an educator.

 

[Slyfox696]

My first thought when I read this was "Is this a public school or a private school?". And really, I think it makes all the difference in the world. If it's a public school (which the name Mount Dora would suggest), I see no way this suspension is legally possible. If it's a public school, my guess is the school was under threat of a lawsuit, which is why the teacher is back in business.

If it's a private institution, then I have no problem with the suspension. If it's a public school, then the school should be reprimanded for a gross violation of 1st Amendment rights. There is no way a government institution can fire someone for having a political opinion formed from the foundation of his religion. Any lawyer worth his salt would see that and be licking his chops.

At the end of the day, while I find his comments to be ignorant and despicable, the fact is, if he worked in a public school, this should never have been close to a firing, as long as it was limited only to Facebook.

 

[Smooth Sexual Chocolate]

This guys is about as useful as a dick on a chick.

It's all good though, because God said it was okay, and Jesus said it was ace too; and my third opinion from the KKK came back and they said keep fighting the good fight.

Fuck the legality here, when it comes down to it this is not the guy I want teaching our young generation of kids. It's people like him who continue to bring down our great nation and set us back when so many of us are trying to move forward for the better.

The sooner these dinosaurs die off, the better.

 

[Xemmy]

Was Buehl right when he stated that his comments were private because he made them on his home computer on his own time? Or was the school correct in ruling them "public" due to Buehl having over 700 Facebook friends? I really wouldn't consider them "private". But that's on his own time, his business, his facebook. As long as he's doing that bullshit on his own time then the school shouldn't be involved. And 700 people, while not hush-hush private, still isn't the millions of people that the school's action has turned it into.

Did Buehl get off easy here in terms of his suspension, or was the school too harsh in suspending him in the first place? Why? I think the school was harsh in suspending him. While he was acting like a total dick, his private beliefs shouldn't interfere with his work life under any circumstances. He shouldn't be spouting it in class, and the school shouldn't punish him for comments made on his own time.

If you were to be apart of the School Board issuing said directives that Buehl must comply with before returning to teaching, is there one in particular you would most insistant upon? The only thing I would insist upon is that he not use his classroom as a forum to spout his idiotic bullshit.

Any other thoughts on this story? Freedom of Speech is important. It protects everyone. Including idiots. But that's the price that has to be paid for it. This guy's a dick for saying what he said, but it certainly isn't the government's, school's, or really anyone's place to punish him for it. Let people say shit about him, let them picket his house, and let married gay couples fondle each other right outside his property line. But don't take his livelihood away. Not while he's keeping his work and beliefs separate.