Teacher Who Claims She Was Sacked Over Topless Selfie Files $3 Million Lawsuit

A teacher who claims she was sacked over a topless selfie has filed a $3 million gender discrimination lawsuit against the school district.

Laura Miranda was a maths teacher at Bellport Middle School in Long Island, USA, but claims she was fired on Wednesday after a student got hold of a topless selfie of her.

The 25-year-old claims the picture - which was taken two years ago - was sent to her former partner, who was another teacher in the district, and she has no knowledge of how the picture came to be in the student's possession.

Miranda's lawyer, John Ray, said his client was 'wrongfully chastised' by the school over the photo and dismissed for not being a proper 'role model'.

At a press conference, Miranda described the selfie as 'pure'.

She said: "Men can bare their chests without it being questioned or thought twice over, my upper torso is no more offensive than a man's.

"It's pure, I'm getting makeup in one hand, and I'm taking a picture in the other.

"My career has been ruined. My reputation has been tarnished. I have been stigmatised.

"What kind of role model am I, to now roll over and hide? I am showing my face and saying something happened to me that I didn't want."

News 12 Long Island

Ray said Miranda had been discriminated against by the school district and that a male would never have received the same treatment.

He said: "Any time a man has ever exposed his chest, no one has ever commented or had any problem with it whatsoever. But when a woman displays her chest, as happened here, she gets fired from her job.

"This would never have happened to a male teacher. The Suffolk County Administrators and School Board have not yet discovered that women are equal to men. Lauren is rightly proud of her female torso. A woman's breasts are not inherently prurient."

News 12 Long Island

Ray added that he didn't know whether the student had been reprimanded.

In a statement, South Country's superintendent told FOX 19, "The district does not comment on active litigation."

Miranda said she is searching for teaching roles in other school districts while the lawsuit progresses, but said she would drop it if she were to be reinstated at Bellport Middle School. However, she said the superintendent told her that was unlikely to happen.

Miranda added: "He said, 'How can I put you in front of a classroom where boys would be able to pull out their phone and look at this image of you?'."

Topics: News, US News, Education

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey