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Subscribe to RSSLegal experts say she may have a case. KNBC's Gordon Tokumatsu reports.
An Oxnard teacher fired for being in a pornographic video before she was hired is fighting back.
Stacie Halas, 32, had taught science at Richard B Haydock Intermediate School since 2009, and prior to her employment she appeared in adult movies.
School board trustees decided on Wednesday to fire Halas. She had been on paid administrative leave since her porn acting surfaced last month. Halas has 30 days to appeal the decision by requesting a hearing with an administrative law judge.
See video, read the original report at NBCLosAngeles.com
"She does have an argument," said Royal Oakes, NBC4 legal analyst.
Oakes said Halas’ case is unusual, but her attorney, who did not return calls made by NBC4 news on Monday, may be building the case based on precedence outside the state.
"The idea that the school should be policing your past is something that makes a lot of people uncomfortable," Oakes said.
Sean Loftis is a substitute teacher in Miami Beach who starred in gay porn and, like Halas, he was fired based on the school’s code of ethics. After months of public discussion, the school board has cleared him to pursue his teaching certificate again.
Oaks said Loftis’ case will likely be cited as Halas works to defend her name and teaching record in Oxnard.
"It can have a lot of heft if you have a very similar case in Florida where a teacher won and here there’s no real California law on the issue," Oaks said.
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Leave a Comment:
If you let her in then you'd have to let that gay porn teacher in-yecch
Reading comprehension: The gay porn guy is ALREADY cleared to teach again. They will probably use him as an example of why they should not fire her too.
For inquiring minds, I looked it up, and she went by the name "Tiffany Six" for her limited porn career...limited, but very hardcore.
MSNBC, surely you are helping her cause by posting an old photo??? I was expecting a current photo but wait oh that right it is MSNBC...what was I thinking??
pained1
As long as they can do their job and do it well I don't care if they are gay/straight or "acted" in "movies".
I just want the kids in their class to get a great education from a teacher who really wants to be there.
Good question. What WERE you thinking? They used what they have available. One was a porn-ish looking photo, they other wasn't. What makes you think one wasn't current? And what makes you think that they had access to something more current but deliberately didn't use it?
The question is, is our children learning? She could hold my "attention" anytime.
I hope this media attention re kindles her previous career
Sad, you'd probably benefit from some grammar lessons. Too bad Miss Halas teaches science...
Doofy, that was a joke, from when Bush said that "is our children learning" thing in some speech.
What the hell difference does it make what they did, it's what they want to do now... How many others have had to do something less than reputable to get through school, and now want to be in a good job... Let what happened in past stay in the past.
Teaching is NOT a good job. I know that government is a disorganized mess, but what we have now is nuts. She should forget teaching and do something, anything else. Maybe if enough teachers quit, or protested be walking off the job for a while, we would be forced to make things a little better.
I was a teacher, and now work on websites. Best move I ever made. More $$, less stress, and no ever changing disorganized mess of bureaucracy to deal with. I could go on and on about what is wrong, but what's the point? Bu at least if we do want every kid to pass, then we should not just pressure the poor teachers who most of the time are trying hard, but we should put pressure on the drug addicted whiny nuts that tell their kids to mouth off.
>How many others have had to do something less than reputable to get through school...
Why is acting in the porn business considered "less than reputable"? It's a legal, regulated profession - she wasn't hooking.
"Why is acting in the porn business considered "less than reputable"?"
You said acting, hahaha. There is no such thing as acting in porn, the very little acting is whether she pretended to like it or not. On the less than reputable, well I guess it depends on your views and your standards. Every one sells themselves for money, the degree just varies.
I came to this post thinking, "I"m not going to comment, I'm NOT GOING TO COMMENT." But I can't help it.
Some pornstars should get Oscars, just saying. Have you ever seen the people they have to screw?! Could you imagine bumping uglies with Ron Jermey, that fat hairy bastard AND THEN PRETEND TO LIKE IT!? That is all.
Jeezus...... get over it! I'd rather have my kids being taught by a woman who had sex on camera than a creepy child molester. And we all know there's no shortage of those in public schools.
The issue comes to morality, do you really want this person around your kids?
Its amazing with all the cases of these - usually white women - teachers having sexual relationships with 13 year olds, that people still support this woman. America really is going down the drain. But I don't know if I should be concerned. It might be time to go abroad and let the idiots who push this kind of crap on everyone else to live in their hedonistic garbagecan.
Performing in a porn film and being a pedophile are two different things entirely.
Where were the morals of the administrator or parent that found this film. If one of my children's teachers were in the porn industry I would never know because I don't watch it. This was the woman's past, she was in adult film industry in no way does it make her a pedophile. Maybe you should do this country a favor and move abroad. I am thinking Middle East lives up to the standards you are looking for. Maybe, just maybe you should quit trying to be holier than the Holy Mother.
Nik - it's not a question of morality, it's a question of LEGALITY. If you morally cannot handle an ex-porn actress teaching your kids, you pull your kids out... you don't fire the teacher.
You know what the difference is between this teacher and most others? This ones dirty laundry is public, other teacher's dirty laundry is secret.
suptymoney, I think you assume that everyone has dirty laundry. I don't have any, and there are many others who don't.
MsKat - performing a sexual act for money is basically prostitution - would you want a prostitute teaching your kids? Their entire life is/was based on selling their body for sex. What kind of example is that? I think teachers should be examples to students.
But then again teachers these days are criminals, pornstars and radicals. The sad thing is that its really showing in the kids we produce. American students are the worst in the first world.
Is she teaching sex education or what, their going to have sex in class, she is going to rape your young children. Yes we know all the boys dads are going to go buy the video and watch her and the moms won't be able to keep the fathers away from parent teacher conference, finally got them to go at last. Now they take an interest in their childes education!
I wonder if we should fire the entire Political spectrum due to their pasts? If being an ex-porn star gets you fired, what's next that will get you fired? Blasphemy? Maturbation? When does it stop and how far can it go?
Again daryl, just because you live a cruddy lifestyle, doesn't mean everyone does. This is the basic logical fallacy that everyone who has posted in support of this woman seems to be following. Not everyone has nude pics, criminal records etc. etc.
Tiggle - I am not aware of any politician who was a pornstar. In fact a democrat from New York lost his job over sending nude pictures to someone. Nice try with the slippery slope.
So Nik - are your kids watching porn? If not, how can she be a bad example, as long as she is a good teacher?
If she's behaving herself in class and she has a good teaching record (i.e. students actually learn stuff), there's no reason to fire her. Let me remind you that being a porn star is a perfectly legal job that doesn't involve harming anyone, unlike so many others (e.g. lawyer, politician, etc).
people are such prudes.... its not like this person is advertizing he stardom in porn in the class room....or she has porn star in glitter across there ass like some kids in this country.
How in the world do you know that this woman is a good teacher? For all we know she could have lied on her application and is below average at her job and this was the last straw. Face it you are trying to make every excuse for her.
Nik - "cruddy lifestyle" and dirty laundry are two different things. If you like getting crapped on during sex, that is dirty laundry - that is something you don't want people to know. If you are straight and have had a drunken gay/lesbian encounter in college - that is dirty laundry. Ever smoke weed? Dirty laundry. YOU have dirty laundry, there is something about yourself that you keep secret. You do. If you don't, you are not human.
"How in the world do you know that this woman is a good teacher?" - how do we know ANY TEACHER is good? You're doubting her teaching abilities based on something COMPLETELY UNRELATED to her job!
This is going no where.
If she's fired due to her lack of competence, that's a COMPLETELY different story. It would have NOTHING to do with her past employment. Clearly that's not what the article is about.
I agree this is going nowhere. She was fired, get over it. If you like her so much, have her tutor your children and stop whining about it!
I would, except I don't have kids and I have a similar field of study. Then again, she could teach biology...
Wow, nik what bubble did you come out of? Like one poster said, I rather her teach my kids than a dirty pedophile. If I was you I keep my kids away from tv and the internet, you know those things are sin boxes.
>The issue comes to morality, do you really want this person around your kids?
If it means she's going to be at the parent-teacher conferences, yes I do.
I think we should fire all teachers. I figure most of them have had pre-marital sex and probably had dinner bought for them before hand. Oh Sweet Mother of Jesus, those Jezebels.
I like how you said, "Mostly white women" for no reason at all. How does that apply to this? The color of her skin? There ARE minority pornstars, but that still has no reason to have been mention on this article. I think your dirty laundry is that your white and are afraid to be called racist, or your a minority member that IS racist.
For your kids, I think a stripper and a gay porn actor would provide an all inclusive learning experience, but for my kids...not so much.
Let me guess, you teach your kids creationism, don't you?
What they did before they were teachers is no-one's business.
I just don't see any problem with a teacher engaging in any legal extracurricular activities. Even if they are currently working in the porn industry it doesn't matter. People have lives outside of work. It's not up to anyone else to decide the "morality". For example if you have a teacher that enjoys a few drinks and a parent sees them in a bar, moral or not? A teetotaler might say no, another person that enjoys adult beverages wouldn't see a problem.
Some people have the idea that our teachers have to be pillars of the community in order to teach our children. I say bring on teachers with all their imperfections because that's how kids are going to learn to deal with the real world.
"Pillars of the community" and "porn star" aren't mutually exclusive. While society doesn't depend on porn stars to survive, there's no reason to say that if you're a teacher and you have/had a side job as a porn star, you can't be teaching.
How many women stripped their way through college? How many of those women have been fired? not many by my count.
As Mr Obama and others opened the door on Homosexual marriages , the discussion of what a teacher does
sexually porn would be a fire able offense if Homosexual marriages and Homosexual acts were not now in
the main-stream called law , for political reasons. If the school boards are going to discuss sexual acts of their teachers then by all mean homosexual acts are still on the laws of many states as a Felony . Working as a Porn Star is not on this list , nor woman that are exotic dancers . I think that bigamy should be allowed as the Bible approved of this . Yet , the man running for Pres , a Mormon , his Chuch , banned bigamy , an allowed practice of G-d . The issue of Prostitution too in a certain case was not accept per the children of the relationship of the prostitute and the Jewish community ,and this is the extent , I believe of the law.
My point is the laws of perversion prevail and those of allowed sexual practice by G-d and now called illegal . So , I am confused . I wonder if you are too.
The school board meeting in Broward and Dade counties are broadcast on TV . I have yet to see either board deal with the topic of having homosexual teachers .
I am confused by your illiteracy. Please, next time you feel the need to spout off your hatred of homosexuals, have someone proofread your garbage before you post it so you look at least marginally intelligent.
School boards don't need to deal with homosexual teachers. If they are doing their jobs they shouldn't be held to any higher standard of scrutiny than any other teacher. That is homophobia.
This is about Obama how exactly?
How the hell did Chuck make the leap from porn star to same-sex marriage??
chuck is like an endless series of run off sentences, I didn't think I would ever come to a period in his thought process.
I my area's public school system they don't and won't even drug test the teachers for current drug use so why can any school district fire anyone for something they did before they were employed by the district? Judge not least ye be judged the book says. I also teaches forgiveness and the ability to repent and change your life for the better.
I could write a book on bad judgement by school trustees and corruption in Ventura County's Superior Court.
The teacher was involved in a LEGAL business, creating a product for adult consumption. Do we fire any teacher who worked at cigarette factory or a distillery? How about a person who worked their way through college by working nights at a 7-11 selling cigs and beer?
The vocal minority (on both extereames) needs to get off their high horse and accept people for who they are, what they have been.
What's the problem? Her past should not have any bearing on her right to hold-down a teaching job because her previous occupation isn't illegal.
But just to be safe, don't have her teach the sex-education class.
Alternatively she might be more qualified than others to teach sex ed, but I see your point here.
I wish I had her for sex ed back in school.
This is very interesting...
"The idea that the school should be policing your past is something that makes a lot of people uncomfortable," Oakes said.
Ok, so when you apply to be a teacher, what's the first thing they do, A BACKGROUND CHECK. So say I murdered someone 15 years ago and served my time.... You honestly think they're going to hire me if I apply? Absolutely not, even though it was a "thing of the past". What a joke. Teachers have to have complete sound judgement even when they were younger. They follow both legal and ethical guidelines and should be treated as such.
I always forget that doing something legal in the past is the same as doing something illegal in the past, thanks for the reminder!
You're comparing apples to oranges. In your example, you're a criminal who has done something both terrible and illegal. She is not. On top of that, her past choice of vocation may not have anything to do with her judgment. Perhaps she had to do that to make enough money to put herself through college. She may have not had many other options open to her. Given the choice between living on the street or having enough money to earn a nice degree and make something of myself, I know which one I'd choose.
Finally, your insinuation that her choice of vocation was not ethical is subjective. I find nothing ethically wrong about someone wanting to act in adult films. I imagine many others feel the same way - that's why it's legal.
No. I stated teachers are judged both ethically and legally. Granted I did give an example of a legal implication, but they are also judged ethically as well. Ethically, it is not acceptable to make porn either prior, during or after. It's all in the contract that they sign every year. Every public school in the United States has contracts with their teachers that state this, and she knowingly ignored it. She's just mad she got caught and now wants someone to pay for her mistakes in life.
@Epidemic, you're not a teacher, are you? You clearly have no idea what kind of contract they sign. No, you can't have someone sign a contract, and have it legally binding, that says they can fire you for acts PRIOR to your hiring.
Too many prudes ..
Hmmm.. before I could make a decision, I think I'd need to conduct a special interview session with her to verify her commitment to teaching... make that a series of special interviews.
Matt can I hold the camera ?? pleeeessee
What's the difference if a politician participates in pornography in the Library of Congress or even the Oval Office? Just that it wasn't filmed (at least not that anyone has admitted yet). I'd rather have a porn star teach my kids than have a politician lie about sexual relations with pages or interns -- even after they are caught literally with their pants down!
The main difference being that politicians make their living by harming others, in my opinion. There's a reason why lobbyists are so powerful and politicians who help them are so rich.
It isn't pornography if it isn't filmed. It's just sex (or not, depending on your definition of 'sex').
I truly hope that by the time this suit is settled that she is not only reinstated but that those who thought this was legitimate grounds for firing someone are the ones looking for new jobs. She did nothing illegal and as far as I have read has done nothing wrong at her teaching job. Firing her for her past simply because some didn't like it merely revealed the incompetence of the school board.
Best post, Nick! I totally agree, the wrong person here lost her job!
This woman should be allowed to keep her teaching job. Most of us had to do some really awful jobs right out of high school. Her after high school job was more extreme than most but she shouldn't have to pay the price now for what she did years ago.
Some can assume that some of those on the school board are Christians. They should take a lesson out of the good book and to forgive.
If she is doing a good job then she should be rewarded by keeping her job.
I wonder if she tutors?
It comes down to honesty in the hiring process. When going through the application process, she probably purposely omitted that job from her list of previous employment. Had that been in the list of previous employment, she most likely wouldn't have been offered the job int he first place. So, by not providing that information, she was lying (by omission) about her past employment, therefore got the job by fraud. End of story.
mntwins, thanks for this great post! Pretty much sums up what happened here. Of course everyone will ignore it.
You don't know that. She could very well have had it on her resume, there would be ways to phrase it so that it wasn't obvious exactly what her position at the company was. Although there is no legal requirement that EVERY job you have ever held be included on your resume, I include only those that pertain to the position being sought. I worked as a receptionist at a natural gas company for one summer before I went to college. It doesn't pertain to my career as an IT professional, so I don't bother to include it on my resume. So sue me. How can anyone expect this girl to do any different?
Let's say you're trying to get a professional job. If you've had lots of experience as a non-professional (e.g. Starbucks, McDonald's, etc) you wouldn't want to include it on your resume if you have better things to put on there (i.e. your previous professional jobs). Would you include serving coffee at Starbucks in August 2008 on your resume? Conventional wisdom would say that you shouldn't, because employers don't like cluttered resumes.
@mntwins huh? wow do seriously list every employment you have ever had? If that is lying, every one in America should be canned.
That's a ridiculous statement. You certainly don't have to list every job you've ever had and there's nothing wrong with omitting any of them. It's not like you're applying for a loan and you "forget" to list a creditor.
You just can't list jobs you've never had. That's considered lying on your application.
I'm not saying she did; I said probably. I don't know her, and of course, I'm not privy to the facts of the case. What I'm saying is that if she intentionally omitted that from her resume knowing that it would likely prevent her from getting the job, then she's lying by omission.
Employment at Starbucks or McDonald's itself probably isn't going to prevent you from getting a professional job... and if you choose to omit it because it's not relevant, that's one thing. If you choose to omit it because you got fired for stealing from the cash register, that's entirely another.
My opinion.
Dang Nik.... who pissed in your cherrios this morning? This whole thread you've been on a witch hunt for this woman. Are you her former manager and you're just hoping she won't get her teaching job back so she'll have to go back to the porn industry? If this had been a male porn star would you be objecting so vehemently? You holier than thou types really need to learn to forgive people.
Entirely false. There is no requirement to list prior jobs. None. Period. Omission of a material fact is fraud, but her porn past is not material as it cannot have legal bearing on her competency as a teacher (even if they would have illegally considered it and not hired her as such).
Now kids when the principle comes in and I wrap my long legs around him we are discussing your future and he's discussing the need to not have religion in school. He will also tell me he will be back to see me again and again! I will tell him what a good principle he is.
You sir, have a dirty mind. You shouldn't speak ill of what secrets lies within you.
I'd rather have a dirty wife.
I have done some things in my past that might cause others to question my morality, but they were not illegal. As long as she can pass the criminal background check, she should be allowed to teach.
I wonder if, while working toward her degree, she had oral exams.
i find it utterly amazing that people blame the teachers for the morals of our children today. i'm sorry, but you are a raging idiot.
parents teach morals, or lack there of. it's the parents job to teach their children what they need to know to make it thru life and have contentment and success.
this woman was in porn. ok. how many of your kids teachers are down at the bar drinking every nite? i hate to be the one to tell you this but there are a lot of teachers out there that have way looser morals than this woman. she was doing a "job". your local teacher does the same thing for "free" or "fun". one is a whore/prostitute, the other just your average jane.
wow, the double standard is still alive and well.
the probability of her having an inappropriate relationship with a student is not any higher than any other teacher. probably less so as i am sure she is aware of the dangers and what others might think.
you want to blame everyone but yourselves for the kids of today's behavior. well guess what, IT'S YOUR FAULT! take responsibility for your own morals and parenting and stop blaming everyone else and teaching your kids to do the same.
more power to this woman for doing something positive for herself.
curry, calm the heck down.
Whos fault is it that only 31 percent of American students are PROFICIENT (read: average) at math? I'm sure some of this is the fault of the parents, but some of the blame must fall on bad/lazy teachers.
really? if your child is failing, why are you not down at that school finding out why?
why are you not doing your job as a parent and sitting down and reading with them yourselves?
don't tell me to calm down.
it's so easy to blame others isn't it? and that is what is wrong with america today. let's just blame everyone else for our own short comings and then it will be all better.
i am not saying all teachers are good. but if you don't like them then attend school board meetings, parent/teacher conferences, concerned parents groups. until you take some action, make some attempt to change something, then you lost the right to bitch.
as the parent of 3 son's, one who is autistic, i am more than just familiar with schools and boards and teachers.
again, TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOURSELF!
The way I see this, there are lots of jobs that involve harming people, yet they're legal. Being a porn star is legal and doesn't involve harming others. Therefore this should be a non-issue.
"TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOURSELF!"
Not very many do that any more. Take nik for example, he rather run to another country and blame everyone else.
"Whos fault is it that only 31 percent of American students are PROFICIENT (read: average) at math? I'm sure some of this is the fault of the parents, but some of the blame must fall on bad/lazy teachers."
I have no idea what this has to do with THIS particular teacher/story, or how you determined that THIS teacher is bad/lazy (if that's the connection you're trying to insinuate) but I've followed your whacked out posts on this story, and will answer this one for you.
The reason is the SYSTEM. It's dumbed down for the lowest common denominator. (ie., No Child Left Behind, a terrible idea they are trying to get rid of) My son was failing every (and I mean every) important class in High school. They kept passing him along until it was time to graduate, and he didn't. He repeated senior year to get credits, but he was failing again. I knew he was very intelligent and should have no problem, so I did what curry wisely said...I went to the school to find out why. My only clue was he said school was "boring". I thought he was being bullied, or he was simply a problem child. One teacher (and I am forever indebted to her) had a suggestion. She said he "is" super smart, and school is not challenging enough for him. In a daring move, she said he should drop out and then go into a private program, and that if he did it soon enough, he could still graduate with a diploma that year. We did it, and she set up the private classes. A major difference was that there, he was given the entire course up front, and could do the assignments at his own speed.
He completed a twelve week algebra course in five weeks. All of them in less than half the time. I love to brag that he completed EVERY course with a perfect 100% A+ score, and not only that, tutored a girl in algebra class at the same time. My son was telling the truth, he was bored in public school. Thankfully, that one teacher recognized that the problem was that school policy dumbing down the system, and got us out of there. The thing was, she had to do this on the sly, because it wasn't politically correct with the school administration to admit that the school was failing most of its students. After this, I was ashamed that I was ready to blame my son for the failings of public education. Or the teachers, who are suffering under this policy just as many of their students are. I'm glad I took responsibility, as well as that brave teacher.
Gee, I just thought of something...she could have been fired for suggesting my son should drop out of school. Then she would automatically become a "bad teacher" in your little closeted world, wouldn't she?
Unforgiving Puritans RULE!
If she's a 'good' teacher, then it's hard to think of why she should be fired for something like having done some porn in her past. The one thing I would have to note is that it would seem rather inappropriate that her students could just google image her name and find pictures of her naked and engaged in having sex very easily as a result of her past indiscretions.
There is a reason why porn stars use aliases...
True, but how far does an alias go in the age of the internet? If i had to guess, probably not very far. All I have to say is that her google image search isn't doing her any favors.