JONATHAN TURLEY

Model Teacher: High School Coach Fired for Posing for Playboy

We have another teacher fired for her private lifestyle and activities. Carlie Beck was fired from her job as cheerleading coach at Casa Roble High School in the San Juan Unified School District after she posed nude for Playboy under the name Carlie Christine.

The important point here is that this is a perfectly legal activity. Yet, because school officials and parents do not approve of of a teacher’s private activities, she was fired. Beck says that she was honest about her modeling career when asked during her interview. Notably, the pictures were raised by a mother who was allegedly ticked off when her daughter was barred from the cheerleading team due to her unexcused absences.

Increasingly, teachers, police officers, and other public employees are being fired for their work or lifestyles outside of work. It raises serious privacy and constitutional issues, here and here and here and here.

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