Calif. Teacher's Firing for Craigslist Sex Ad Upheld

An appeals court's verdict is the latest wrinkle in the back-and-forth story of a teacher for the San Diego Unified School District who was fired for posting an ad on Craigslist looking for sex with other men.

The teacher, Frank Lampedusa, had been awarded tenure with the school district when his posting in Craigslist's "men seeking men" listings was discovered. The posting, which included "explicit" photos of Lampedusa, was seen as grounds for dismissing the teacher on grounds of "immoral conduct," reported San Diego CBS affiliate KFMB-TV.

Lampedusa had been the dean of students at Farb Middle School. He lost that job after an anonymous tipster contacted police to report that Lampedusa had posted photos of himself--including photos of his genitalia, face, and anus--online. The call was made in June of 2008; the following November, Lampedusa was fired, the article said.

The posting did not include any contact information or employment information, and did not identify Lampedusa by name. But the listing did describe the forms of sexual contact Lampedusa sought, reported the Los Angeles Times in an April 5 article.

The Commission of Professional Competence reinstated Lampedusa the following June, with a ruling that the posting was "vulgar and inappropriate and demonstrated a serious lapse in good judgment" but that it did not have anything to do with his professional responsibilities.

But the 4th District Court of Appeals reaffirmed the educator's firing on April 4, once again on the grounds that Lampedusa had engaged in "immoral conduct."

"The Commission erred in finding there was 'no evidence of aggravating circumstances surrounding [Lampedusa's] conduct,' " the appeals court's ruling read in part, as posted on April 6 at Queerty.

"This finding ignores the fact Lampedusa posted graphic, pornographic photos, and obscene written material, on a Web site open to the public," the ruling continued. "Lampedusa admitted that he had posted similar ads in the past and did not believe he had done anything immoral. Moreover, rather than taking complete responsibility for his conduct, he shifted responsibility to parents and students to not access his site.

"Further, while it is true that he promptly removed the ad after being directed to do so, it does not mitigate his conduct that would have likely continued had a parent not viewed and complained about the ad. This factor also does not support the Commission's decision," the ruling added, going on to assert, "While Lampedusa's conduct may not have been blameworthy in the sense he was seeking a date, it was extremely blameworthy in the pornographic, obscene manner that he did so. This factor also does not support the Commission's decision."

The finding also addressed the definition of "immoral" conduct, citing earlier precedent in doing so.

"'The term "immoral" has been defined generally as that which is hostile to the welfare of the general public and contrary to good morals. Immorality has not been confined to sexual matters, but includes conduct inconsistent with rectitude, or indicative of corruption, indecency, depravity, dissoluteness; or as willful, flagrant, or shameless conduct showing moral indifference to the opinions of respectable members of the community, and as an inconsiderate attitude toward good order and the public welfare.' " (Board of Education v. Weiland (1960) 179 Cal.App.2d 808, 811.)"

Added the text of the ruling, "Moreover, the definition of immoral or unprofessional conduct must be considered in conjunction with the unique position of public school teachers, upon whom are imposed 'responsibilities and limitations on freedom of action which do not exist in regard to other callings.' (Board of Trustees v. Stubblefield, supra, 16 Cal.App.3d at p. 824.)"

The opinions of commentators who left remarks at the Los Angeles Times page were as divided as the opinions of the bodies that issued the contradictory rulings in the case.

"The fact that someone thinks they can put anything they want on a 'public' site and then not have to pay the consequences if that which they posted is seen by their employers, is amazing," wrote one individual. "If they are employed in the porn industry, then this type of thing is probably not frowned upon, but in any other sector of society it is, and that doesn't require that you be Einstein or just a little bit smart to figure that out."

"A stupid move, yes, but a harsh decision because he's gay? I think so," another wrote in.

" '[T]he ad was improper because it might be seen by students...' I believe this statement is the only reason the Court of Appeals made the correct ruling," opined another reader. "If the teacher had posed for sexually explicit photos in an adults-only paper (not Internet) magazine not easily accessible to children, and a parent or other school district employee saw the photos, IMO it would be unconstitutional to fire the teacher in that case, as he would be engaging in legal behavior on his own time off school district grounds. Sexually explicit Craigslist pages, however, are not off limits to children in the same way as adult 'non-e' reading material."

"You bet there are some people out there that will 'seek', search, HUNT down any way that they can have you humiliated and shunned," another reader declared. "In this case, get you fired from your job. I mean, honestly I can't imagine there being that many middle-schoolers on the Craigslist sex ads. So whoever found this smut was looking for the same thing apparently and came across this golden nugget way to get a teacher fired.

"The fact that there's a person out there searching for the same this man wanted, but instead used the info to destroy this man's career is disgusting," the reader added.

"Substantive Due Process requires that a person must have reasonably clear notice of what conduct is prohibited, lest [due process] be abrogated," wrote in another. "Laws that do not reasonably specify what behavior is illicit are Constitutionally-suspect; usually on the grounds of 'void for vagueness'.

"The question of what conduct by a public employee is 'immoral' is a dicey one," added the commentator. "Define 'immoral'. Is working on the Sabbath immoral? Is premarital sex immoral? It's a very slippery slope when the state becomes entailed in the business of defining morality."

"The man committed no crime," another reader observed. "The man did not identify himself or his school affiliation in the Craigslist ad.

"Someone saw the ad, likely a fellow teacher or a student, and they called the police," the commentator continued. "The police. For a Craigslist ad.

"It seems that what this guy has REALLY been convicted of is being gay," the commentator added. "If it were a heterosexual teacher who did the same thing, they'd be in front of the class teaching today."