What to Know
- A teacher who says she was fired after a topless selfie ended up in the hands of a student plans to sue the school for $3 million
- The teacher says she texted the photo to her then-boyfriend three years ago. It's not clear how it ended up in the student's hands
- The teacher plans to file a lawsuit against the school district in federal court claiming she was unjustly fired
A Long Island teacher who says she was fired after a topless selfie she sent to an ex-boyfriend ended up in the hands of a student plans to sue the school district for $3 million.
Lauren Miranda, who worked as a math teacher at Bellport Middle School until last week, told News 4 she texted the photo to her then-boyfriend — another teacher in the district — three years ago.
Miranda, 25, never posted the photo anywhere, and it’s not clear how a middle school student came to possess the photo two months ago.
"That picture was never posted," she said. “How it got out is the million-dollar question.”
Miranda plans to file a lawsuit against the South Country Central School District in federal court, claiming she was unjustly fired.
“If a male teacher’s nipples were displayed, there would be no punishment,” she said. “I believe I am being targeted because of my female breasts and my gender.”
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“Those people in the South Country district are not woke yet,” Miranda’s attorney John Ray said at a press conference Monday. “They haven’t come to the realization that men and women are equal.”
The school district declined to comment on the lawsuit on Monday, saying it doesn’t discuss pending litigation.
While some parents on Monday stood behind the school’s decision to fire Miranda, she claims she will keep up her fight.
“What message is that [sending] to the girls who have their photos air-dropped all over the high school and sent all over?” she asked. “What message are we sending to them?”
"To roll over when your photo gets exposed without your permission or consent?”
