Saturday 13 April 2013

Walt Tutka: Teacher fired for bible to student alleges discrimination

Walt Tutka: Teacher fired for bible to student alleges discrimination, Walt Tutka is the substitute teacher who was fired for giving a Bible to an inquisitive student. He recently filed a religious discrimination complaint with the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission). Tutka believes he was sacked in retaliation for exercising his religious freedom, reports The Daily Caller in an April 12 story.

Tutka was employed as substitute teacher at a Phillipsburg School District on Oct. 12 last year when he was fired for giving a Bible to one of the students.

Citing his EEOC report, it says Tutka made reference to the common biblical scripture, "The first shall be the last, and the last shall be the first."

It goes on to say that a student standing in line inquired about where the teacher got the witty remark. Tutka explained the verse was taken from Matthew 19:30 and Mark 10:31, Gospels in the New Testament of the Bible.

When the student indicated they did not own a Bible, Walt Tutka offered them a pocket-size version.

Somehow, school officials heard about the incident and expressed concerns for the "illicit" religious remark and gift to the student. He then was told about his possible termination over the matter.

On Jan. 14, the substitute teacher was fired for the Bible remark.

Tutka's EEOC complaint reads in part:

"I believe that I have been discriminated against in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination and retaliated against regarding same,"

He is represented by a New Jersey law firm and a non-profit group.

Hiram Sasser, director of litigation for the activist group said this:

"It is shocking that the school district has forced Walt to file a complaint with the EEOC for religious discrimination. Walt did was respond to a student’s intellectual curiosity and the school district suspended and then terminated him."

Obviously, this is a matter of Church and State, where fine lines are drawn in what constitutes acceptable behavior in learning institutions.

Did the school district get it right or wrong by firing the teacher over the Bible incident? Did Walt Tutka cross the line?

1 comment:

  1. Does the public library carry a copy of the bible? To diffuse the situation, any future requests should be directed to the library, then some idiot can fire the librarian-see how far that gets!

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