OK, so I have a good friend that works in childcare, and she has recently had a massive bomb go off in her career/life due to what I believe to be a horrible breach of privacy and the ensuing sexual discrimination.
It all started when she was at a person's home as an in-home caregiver for their young children. In her hand bag, she had a book pertaining to BDSM (if you don't know what that is, look it up). We're not talking graphic or lewd at all, just an informational book discussing the nature and details of such relationships, and the counter-culture they exist in. Apparently, she had just gotten something out of her bag, and left it open while she left the room. The mother was home at the time, and saw the cover (again, not graphic, just a title on a unoffensive black and white photo). The mother, who apparently has the mindset that masturbation, much less any kind of sexual behavior outside of her norms, is just plain sick and wrong, so you can imagine how she reacted. I can understand if she had simply told my friend that she did not approve, and would not like her to watch her her children anymore. She did far more than that, however.
First, she screamed at her about it for a while, to which my friend simply asked, "What business is it of yours, as long as I don't read it to the children?" The mother threw her out, then proceeded to blacklist her. The next morning, my friend received a call from the licenced daycare center where she is employed full time, telling her to not come in, and that she was on "suspension while she was under review." Mind you, there are no rules against working outside of that establishment, so "moonlighting" would not warrant this. Now, two other people she regularly works for have told her they no longer need her services as a childcare professional.
I believe she has every right to sue the mother, and the childcare center at least on grounds of sexual discrimination, and probably for slander, as well as infringement of personal privacy. I am not a lawyer, I do not study law, and I have no personal experience with these matters, but I hate to see her civil rights so abused.
What can she do?
Thanks,
Jared

