The Supreme Court (SC) stressed that premarital sexual relations leading to pregnancy are not immoral and do not justify suspending an employee.
In a decision written by Associate Justice Ricardo Rosario and made public Dec. 16, the SC’s First Division ruled that a Christian school’s suspension of a teacher for becoming pregnant outside marriage was illegal.
The grade school teacher was initially verbally suspended by the principal when she was two months pregnant, adding she would remain suspended until she married the father of the child she was carrying.
Five days later, she received a written notice stating that she was suspended indefinitely without pay due to immorality until she married her boyfriend.
She filed a complaint for illegal suspension, and a labor arbiter held that she was constructively dismissed, but the National Labor Relations Commission reversed this decision, the SC Public Information Office said in a press release.
While the Court of Appeals (CA) ruled that there was no constructive dismissal, it found her suspension illegal.
The SC eventually affirmed the CA’s finding of illegal suspension. It held that sexual relations between two unmarried, consenting adults are not immoral. “No law prohibits this, nor does it go against any fundamental state policy found in the Constitution.”
The SC clarified that under the law, the standard of morality applicable to all is public and secular, not religious.
Public and secular morality refers to conduct that is prohibited due to its harmful effects on human society rather than being based on religious beliefs.
The SC held that if the government were to otherwise base public policies and morals on religious beliefs, this would require everyone to conform to a religious program or agenda.
As the teacher’s pregnancy cannot be considered immoral, it was not a valid ground for her suspension.
The SC also ordered the school to pay the back wages and benefits due her during the period she was suspended. ||
