A former student at a private Christian school in Loganville, Ga., has sued the school for $1 million, alleging invasion of privacy and breach of contract after she was expelled for kissing a girl at a slumber party and also being involved with another female student off-campus.
In the lawsuit, filed Dec. 2 in Gwinnett County Superior Court, Jessica Bradley and her father, Ronald Bradley, allege that Emmaline M. McKinnon, principal of Covenant Christian Academy, wrongfully expelled Jessica in April 2005 for violating the school’s “sexual immorality” criteria.
The expulsion caused the teen to suffer public humiliation and embarrassment at the school and within the community, forcing her father to ask for a job transfer to Pennsylvania where the family now resides, the lawsuit claims. It asks for a tuition refund, $1 million in damages for invasion of privacy and emotional distress, and a restraining order prohibiting Covenant from relying on the “sexual immorality” clause to expel other students in the future.
McKinnon did not return calls by press time.
Jessica Bradley, 15, acknowledges in the lawsuit that a fellow female Covenant Academy student kissed her at a private sleepover party away from school property on April 22, and also that she had been in a relationship with a different girl.
But Bradley denies that her behavior violated the school’s discipline code because the rules do not specifically state same-sex kissing is grounds for expulsion, according to her attorney, Dave Clark of Lawrenceville, Ga.
“The school’s prohibition against sexual immorality is too vague to be enforced,” Clark said, explaining the breach of contract complaint.
By making only general references to the Bible and scripture and what kind of behavior is expected of students, the school failed to make clear what actions it required of students to avoid expulsion, he said.
“What J
essica did is not ‘expressly forbidden in scripture’ and a legal contract cannot be based upon vague ‘principles of divine revelation,’ as stated in the student handbook,” he said.
Jessica and Ronald Bradley declined comment through Clark.
Jessica Bradley entered the eighth grade at Covenant Academy in fall 2003. She had nearly completed ninth grade and maintained a 3.5 grade point average when she was expelled in April. She played varsity softball and basketball and had earned a grade of 98 in her Bible class, according to the lawsuit.
The Covenant Academy Student Handbook attached to Bradley’s complaint provides for expulsion upon the first instance of “sexual immorality” on or off campus.
But whether or not kissing someone of the same sex is “sexually immoral” is a decision the court is likely to have to make, Clark said.
“The court will have to rule on whether sexual immorality embraces gay behavior,” he said.
While a private school has more legal protections than a public school, Clark said he wants Covenant Christian Academy to expressly detail what kind of behavior students are allowed.
“If the school is going to be anti-gay, we want them to be honest and up front — don’t be secret about it,” Clark said.
The lawsuit’s claim of breach of contract is an “interesting” tactic, according to Robert Ahdieh, a law professor at Emory University in Atlanta.
“The contract claim is the least conventional — they are asserting the contract was ambiguous because it makes general reference to scripture and to ‘sexual immorality,’” Ahdieh said. “It does not make clear what is or is not acceptable, so an argument can be made.”
Covenant Christian Academy is a private school and private contracts do not have to meet the same stringent criteria as public contracts on issues such as discrimination, he added.
“People enter into private, vague contracts all the time. The state rules are inapplicable here. It being a private school is what makes this a challenge,” Ahdieh said.
Dyana Bagby can be reached at dbagby@sovo.com.
