SUPPORT BUILDS FOR REINSTATEMENT OF LEIGH ANNE ARTHUR …
Three students at Union High School – a government-run facility located in the socially conservative Upstate region of South Carolina – want their teacher to be rehired in the aftermath of her “nude selfie” scandal. Teacher Leigh Anne Arthur was forced to resign from her post last week after an as-yet-unidentified male student stole her phone, discovered a nude picture on it, photographed the picture on his own phone and spread a copy of the image to others via text messages and social media.
Arthur’s phone was in her desk at the time it was improperly accessed – and there is absolutely no evidence to suggest she consented to it being searched. In fact there is ample evidence to the contrary – including Arthur’s allegation that the student who improperly obtained the racy image acted with malicious intent. Nonetheless, the school district claimed Arthur “made the nude picture available to her students” and compelled her resignation as a result of that allegation.
The student? No charges have been filed against him – and the school has handed down no discipline against him.
Arthur did file a complaint with local law enforcement against the student, alleging he “had the ultimate decision to take pictures of my pictures, and he had the ultimate decision to send them out.” An investigation based on Arthur’s complaint is ongoing.
In writing on this drama earlier this week, we came down squarely on Arthur’s side.
“It seems to us that a teacher who places a personal item inside their desk has a reasonable expectation of privacy, right? Certainly she’s not consenting or expecting a student to rife through the desk, find her cellphone, scroll through its image gallery, find a naughty picture and then take a picture of the naughty image and blast it far and wide,” we wrote.
“That’s a violation of privacy, as far as we’re concerned,” we added.
Arthur’s students feel the same, arguing that the circumstances surrounding her forced resignation were “unacceptable, and must be corrected.”
“Leigh Anne Arthur is the victim of a blatant attack of her privacy,” three of them wrote in an online petition. “Personal photographs were illegally obtained by a student and were sent to other students in the school.”
We agree …
The students added that Arthur was “escorted off of school property,” leaving them “to believe that she has been forced to, or given little choice but to resign.”
Hundreds of people have already signed the petition to reinstate Arthur.
As we noted in our previous coverage, this case isn’t completely clean cut. Arthur obviously showed poor judgment in having such photos stored on an unlocked mobile device – one that she brought onto school property. But the school’s allegation that this somehow constituted “making the photos available to students” is a stretch.
We don’t believe in government-run education (we support universal tax credits and vouchers for low-income students). And we believe private employers should be allowed to hire and fire at will. Above all, though, we believe in liberty – and it seems pretty clear in this case Arthur’s liberty was violated.
27 comments
This kid’s Daddy must own the local saw mill or be a member of a PC protected class.
Yep!
Interesting that we know nothing about him – other than his age, 16.
Here’s her telling of the story:
“…She said she left her cell phone on her desk to go out and be a hall monitor between classes.
In that time, a five minute span, a student took pictures of her phone from his phone and shared them “with anyone in class who wanted them”.
She said the kid then said at the end of class, “your day of reckoning is coming.” (obviously there’s a history there)
Later, she was told what had happened and checked with the student’s parents who she said were 100 percent on her side.
The student went to principal and admitted to taking the photos. Two witnesses also went to the principal.
The principal asked for her resignation the next Tuesday, Arthur said.
The district told her there was no policy about “inappropriate material on her cell phone” but they were firing her for that reason.
Arthur said she was also in trouble for “making her phone easily accessible.” http://wncn.com/2016/02/29/sc-teacher-resigns-after-nude-pic-from-her-phone-spread-throughout-school/
Time to hire a lawyer.
Told ya’ she’ll settle for about $60,000 plus expenses. And she’ll move to VA and get a 100% increase in salary, better place to raise kids, and a new SUV.
My point of view: If you don’t want nude photos of yourself in the public arena (or sex tapes or recordings of you saying something inflammatory or just plain stupid), don’t put them on any type of electronic media. Does that excuse someone who snooped in your phone (or laptop, IPad, whatever)? No, but you can’t be embarrassed by what’s not there. People need to wise up.
Here, here!
Your age is showing. The kids disagree. I don’t, but I’m old too.
Common sense knows no age.
My point of view is that you are blaming the victim. And it’s not like she was uploading them on the internet or posting them to facebook. They were on her phone, where she reasonably thought they were secure until some punk invaded her privacy.
I’m not blaming the victim. I’m saying she lacks common sense and good judgment.
That’s your opinion. Opinions vary wildly.
My opinion is that some people shouldn’t be allowed access to computers, and the internet.
Thanks for proving that opinion correct.
People who disagree with you should be banned from the Internet? How Soviet.
Missed the joke, did you? (facepalm)
The issue isn’t whether she had a “right” to be embarrassed, but whether she can be fired based on an illegal invasion of her privacy that uncovered her perfectly legal personal activity. If the school can’t stand behind a teacher on something that straightforward, then I can’t imagine it’s the kind of place where good people would want to work. Thank God some of these kids apparently have common sense despite the idiots responsible for their education.
And the bigger idiots who call themselves raising the little thugs. Little thugs become big thugs.
She is being real cooperative with the media by providing a selfie taken inside her car. see reflection in glasses.
Don’t think that’s her, I may be wrong. This is a screen cap from her interview on WYFF: http://s15.postimg.org/nu2rirw2j/nude_teacher.jpg
is she masturbating? … just curious //
Where can I find them?
Although I do not carry around photos or phone pix of my glorious naked body, I have every right to do so. What that boy did was wrong and he should be punished. If we start firing teachers for carrying around racy pics, I worry there will be no one left to teach.
“Nobody puts Baby in the corner!”
Looking at the above picture I became reminded of a actress from the past. Does anyone else see the resemblance?
Help me out, Taz. I’m missing something.
Where is the quote from?
Dirty Dancing. This is a picture of Jennifer Grey in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
http://www.rantlifestyle.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Untitled-4.jpg
Okay! Gotcha, now!
DAMN! — you’ve got some kinda’ memory!
That’s Jennifer Grey after 200 pizzas
she should be shitcanned for being a dumbass .