Wow. Yeah, that really struck me seeing it in the comments thread (which is running way too fast for my writing ability...) I don't work in HR (I think you have to sell your soul to the devil first, don't you?) but I'd put money that is the sort of letter that any HR director or lawyer would tell you never, ever to send out publically. I mean, unless the family somehow went totally off the deep end and it's actually possible to substantiate "malicious language, taunts, threats, abuse towards members of our school community, gossip, rumors, unkind language" in the sort of way a judge would consider uncontestable, it looks to me like they just opened themselves up big-time.
I suppose the best spin that could be put on it by the administration would be that they only meant that the family "continued to meddle in the administrative affairs of Loretto High School by making demands and threats" and that they considered the other ill effects to be the result of the general climate created by that. But that's weak.
Man... They must be in chicken-without-a-head mode over there.
I agree. Which is why I've mused that the response of the current students as well as alumna has the sense of a cultic "Loretto is soooo perfect. Must not question Loretto authorities" tone to them.
Sorry to give you sloppy seconds Rick and readers, but a portion of my comment on Mr. Akin's blog appropriate:
I'm having a difficult time seeing on what grounds she could sue. Even a simple ground of defamation is mitigated by her, not the school's, informal press release on the matter. Discrimination claims are simply very difficult to claim against private associations. This is significant when the claim is based on political discrimination. Quite frankly, the teacher would enjoy greater protection as an employee for political activities than a student as a beneficiary of a public good. At this point you are left with whistle blower protections. Here I'm not optimistic. The temptation is to treat this as a contract law case. Assuming breach of contract, the remedy is a refund of her tuition. This may already have been done voluntarily by the school.
I really don't care about the lawsuit angle. It's about principle and justice. I would hope that the bishop sets her up in another school and either orders Loretto to reform or drop the Catholic name.
Since I can't even get Katelyn's comments page to open, may I comment here?
I agree that the letter is quite unprofessional. Could/has someone post[ed] this slanderous email somewhere? I can't imagine how it could be worse than the smackdown they got in the bishop's letter: If the email contained lies, they could have called them lies and refuted them. Did they do that in the rest of that letter?
But they cannot deny anything written in the bishop's letter.
Also, isn't it funny that the dismissal supposedly has nothing to do with the anti-abortion stance, and yet the school's letter openly admits that the issues with the Sills occurred over 'the past two weeks.' Hmmm... Wouldn't that just happen to be the period of time leading up to and immediately following the bishop's intervention?
Perhaps the bishop's work there is not done...
Hi Mark,
Of course you can comment here.
I asked Sophia, who claimed knowledge of the e-mail's content, to forward it to me. It hasn't arrived. Here is her comment...please note the reference to the evil content of the e-mail:
Jeanette,
Why don't you tell the truth about the e-mail that Mrs. Sills circulated in Sacramento on October 27, two weeks after Ms. Bain was fired? The mission of the Sills family was to keep everyone stirred up. Ms. Bain was gone but they kept up the e-mails, blogging and inflamatory language. "Please pray for our family and the crisis at Loretto CATHOLIC High School." What crisis? Mrs. Sills had a crisis because she was banned from the campus. She was banned because she threatened the school. You can't do things like that and then expect to be welcomed with open arms. The Sills family got their wish, but they kept pushing. It's a school not a political rally.
The Sills family has a single focus in life as do all of these people who don't know anything about LHS except what they read on this blog. Of course they believe the blog because Katelyn is one of them.
Good Luck to you Katelyn, I hope that you find a school that is a better fit for you and your family.
Good luck to my alma mater which remains a Catholic school, faithful to the teachings of the Catholic Church, despite the wild speculation of all of these bloggers.
Try going to the discussion directly by clicking here
As I'm giving this more thought, I'm coming to the regrettable conclusion that the school is probably right. This pains me to say, but I'm having difficulty reconciling post scandal involvement of Katelyn and her continuing to be educated at Loretto. If this had been dropped, so to speak, when the teacher was dismissed, life might have continued as normal. The issue was not dropped after the firing, which allowed a debate about Loretto's Catholicity. Personally, I'm inclined to believe that Catholic education is a joke. To continue debate on the matter however while still seeking the services of that institution doesn't strike me as copesetic.
On the positive side, Loretto may become a Catholic institution from this. Katelyn will most likely be sought after by a legitimate Catholic institution.
What bothers me most about this, and the reason for my most recent comment on her blog (about a dozen or so down) is that I don't see a lot of good things for Katelyn coming out of this unless you count martyrdom. I'm afraid people are entertaining romantic notions of martyrdom and not considering the consequences. I don't think people are doing this intentionally, but I ask the commentators to give this consideration.
I definitely think it's too late for Katelyn and Loretto. Though I am not willing to concede that the Sills' made too much post-event hype.
Sending an e-mail out asking for prayers (which is the only claim posited so far) is hardly 'hype'.
Also, after what I have seen of Loretto through this episode, I can't imagine why a Catholic would want to send their children there. Based on what has been demonstrated, there is absolutely NO Catholic character to that school. A shame.
My ignorant two cents:
An email can continue circulating long after the original sender puts it out, especially if there is any system of listservs or email lists among the community. And, not to be ageist, but there are some people at or above a certain age who perhaps are not aware of the prudent use of such email lists. Heck, there are lots of people below that age who don't seem to get it. So, especially if there are listservs existing in the community, a scandalous email could be circulated and promoted beyond the original writer's intent.
Not saying it's even probable. Just saying it's possible.
The other issue is that the Sac. Bee got ahold of the story and talked to the fired teacher who fingered Mrs. Sill as the one who got her fired. The newspaper then published this fact causing the Sills to suffer more grief from Loretto students and supporters.
I don't get it. No one would bat an eye if an Islamic school fired a teacher for being a topless dancer.
No one would care if a Jewish school fired a teacher for being a pig farmer.
No one would give a crap if a Baptist school fired a teacher for teaching evolution. The fact is that you CANNOT be Catholic and pro-abortion. You just can't.
It's typical anti-Catholic bias, and the saddest thing of all is that most of the bias comes from 'Catholics'.
Kyrie Eleison, indeed.
There has been a press release by Katelyn Sills family:
http://standupandspeakout.blogsp...ss-
release.html
Julie,
Good point, in spite of your pennies being mentally challenged and all. 
Quo Vadis,
I think that is a valid consideration. I don't know if it is the type of the you necessarily fault someone with, but it seems to be the single biggest reason there was a commotion leading up to Katelyn's expulsion.
Cathy,
Sad indeed.
Tito,
Thanks for the tip, I appreciate it.
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