Student Sues Teacher For Anti-Christian Comments

[Mrs Behavin]

SANTA ANA, Calif. -- A high school student and his parents have filed a lawsuit against a teacher, accusing him of making offensive comments in class about Christianity.

The lawsuit filed Wednesday in federal court in Santa Ana accuses teacher James Corbett of demonstrating "a sense of hostility toward religion" that caused Christian students at Capistrano Valley High School to "feel ostracized and treated as second-class citizens."

Chad Farnan, 16, claims his constitutional rights were violated and wants Corbett removed from the classroom.

"The teacher is a representative of the state and the Constitution requires government neutrality toward religion," attorney Jennifer Monk said. "We will not seek damages if the teacher is removed."

It wasn't immediately known if Corbett had retained a lawyer. Principal Tom Ressler described Corbett as a solid teacher who has been with the Capistrano Unified School District for more than 15 years.

"It's really premature to say anything about this," he said. "People can make allegations all they want; we have to see the reality and context of what was said."

Among the statements the lawsuit contends Corbett said to students include "when you put on your Jesus glasses, you can't see the truth"; religion is not "connected with morality"; and suggested that churchgoers are more likely to commit rape and murder.

Chad Farnan said he taped the teacher's lectures with a tape recorder in plain sight on his backpack.

"I'm not sure whether he saw me," Farnan said. "He's against Christianity and bashes it all the time. He's been indoctrinating us and not teaching the class; we don't need to be hearing his political views during school time when we should be learning."

Farnan said he would remain in school but stay out of Corbett's class until the lawsuit is settled.

Capristrano Valley High School is in Mission Viejo, Calif., about 60 miles north of San Diego.

Sign Up

 

[GraceAbounds]

This is not the first time I've heard something like this.

If you are Christian and don't want your kids around this crap, I can't stress enough ... know who is teaching your kids ... know the core values of the school they are in ... get to know the principal as personally as possible and stay INVOLVED.

 

[All Else Failed]

yeah what he said was unnecessary.

 

[Peter Parka]

The guy's entitled to his views on religion but should keep them out of the classroom. I fail to see how it was ever necessary for him to air his views at school.

 

[juggler]

:homo:
What he said!!

 

[hubersrj]

Ok, well this is spitting distance from where I grew up and that specific School District has been in hot water before for their liberal teachers. I was in the School District right next to it, Saddleback Valley Unified S.D., and we had a lot of transfers from Capo once California lifted it's school district lockdown, ie. you had to go to school were you lived...now, you can pretty much go to public school where ever you want, but the district isn't responsible for providing transportation.

It's sad, but the richer you are, it would seem, the more apt you are to express your views. Capo Valley S.D. is in a VERY affluent part of Orange County, CA. Yes, the same Orange County as in that piece of crap reality show, "The Real O.C." and "Real O.C. Housewives" or whatever it's called.

 

[juggler]

I think we have another case of the possibility of some 'creative' reporting. There's very little detail in the original report, and the use of quotation marks in the text may indicate a change of context. I can see this setting off on a long journey of people saying how bad it all is without anyone actually knowing the facts of the case!!

 

[hubersrj]

Well, like I said before...I know the area very well, although I may not have lived there for quite sometime, my brother still lives about 15 minutes away from the nearest School in this district...the private school he works at gets a lot of kids from Capo Valley S.D.

 

[debbie t]

teachers should teach and not bully students.

whatever his opinion of faith he was simply bullying the boy and should be dismissed for bullying


oh and ron that orange country crap is the choppers luv

 

[Thebest]

when are people going to stop suing each other and get a life? Damn, he said something he shouldn't have said, let it go. I guarantee you if he had said anything something about evolution, or the big bang theory, or some other scientific theory, nothing would've happened. I'm tired of all this mess.

 

[debbie t]

teachers are in a position of responsiblity and should be professional at all times

he bullied the boy ,he said "when you put your jesus glasses on you cant see the truth" knowing it would be offensive,and as far as im concerned not a professional teaching method.

if he said something about big bang???well if hed said that evolution didnt happen and was a creationist i would also expect him to be dismissed.

if you are happy with a bullying idiot teaching your children that up to you,i think most parents expect better.

i would also be outraged if the comment had been anti islamic and directed at a muslim child.

 

[Thebest]

I'm not saying he shouldn't get in trouble. Put him on probation, cut his pay, fine. I'm just damn tired of people suing other people over ANY LITTLE THING. He said something he wasn't supposed to, big deal, that doesn't mean you should sue him over it. Just report him to the damn principal. There's absolutely no need to sue. They're just trying to get some easy money, that's all that is.

 

[debbie t]

I'm not saying he shouldn't get in trouble. Put him on probation, cut his pay, fine. I'm just damn tired of people suing other people over ANY LITTLE THING. He said something he wasn't supposed to, big deal, that doesn't mean you should sue him over it. Just report him to the damn principal. There's absolutely no need to sue. They're just trying to get some easy money, that's all that is.

i agree with you over the suing ,but sadly i understand this happened in the US and you lot seem to sue over everything...i suppose it keeps lawyers in work and gives great pay outs.

the article doesnt say whether any disciplinary action was taken or not.

 

[juggler]

This is what i said earlier. There's very little detail in the original text. Dangerous to jump to conclusions without the proper info!!

 

[skyblue]

The guy's entitled to his views on religion but should keep them out of the classroom. I fail to see how it was ever necessary for him to air his views at school.

if a minority can complain peter why cant a christian?

 

[debbie t]

if a minority can complain peter why cant a christian?

because no body ever listens to me:24:

 

[skyblue]

if you complain i bet they all listen........especially if your husbands stood behind you

 

[GraceAbounds]

the article doesnt say whether any disciplinary action was taken or not.

The parents aren't going to sue if disciplinary action is taken. They will only sue if disciplinary action is NOT taken. (as they would have no other recourse)

This is what i said earlier. There's very little detail in the original text. Dangerous to jump to conclusions without the proper info!!

Well if we didn't come to some type of thoughts/conclusions there'd be nothing to post about. :unsure:

:willy_nilly:

 

[juggler]

The parents aren't going to sue if disciplinary action is taken. They will only sue if disciplinary action is NOT taken. (as they would have no other recourse)


Well if we didn't come to some type of thoughts/conclusions there'd be nothing to post about. :unsure:

:willy_nilly:

Sorry if I view this a little cynically!

 

[debbie t]

if this bully isnt disciplined then i think they should sue,his behaviour was unacceptable