Leah Maier, a former employee of Good Spirit School Division (GSSD), recently had her contract terminated on June 12th, 2023 after posting a news article to a private group of contacts on Facebook.
The former Educational Assistant worked full-time at PJ Gillen Elementary School in Esterhazy for nearly five years, and received positive feedback from the students, parents and staff she worked with.
Leah stated that the website link she posted to the private Facebook group was from someone else, and was not necessarily her own opinion; it did not include added text, or a caption.
The article came from a Christian news site which urged parents to keep children home from school on June 1 to protest ‘Pride Month.’
Maier confirmed that she did send her children to school on June 1.
An employee termination meeting was held to inform Maier. Representing Leah was the local president of CUPE 4784. Quintin Robertson, Director of Education/CEO, and Jason Trost, Superintendent of Human Resources, spoke on behalf of GSSD.
No questions were asked by the CUPE president to GSSD in defence of Maier. A grievance form against the ruling was filed on Tuesday at 5 P.M. and now the former Educational Assistant is in the process of waiting for a response from GSSD.
In her termination meeting, Maier asked, “How can you assume that I was in favour of that share?”. She mentioned that if she was in favour, she would have kept her kids at home as the article promoted.
Superintendent Jason Trost mentioned to Maier that when you are sharing things, that is equivalent to making the post.
Maier replied that she did not agree. She stated there are youth in her life who are, or are considering transgender, and she still loves them more than anything. Maier said, “I’m not against anyone. I am very very equal with everyone. My kids have gay friends, I have gay friends, and I treat them no different. I don’t think there is any way you can prove I was in support of that post.”
When the Good Spirit School Division found out about the post, they put Leah on “work from home” starting on June 9th, before her termination on June 12th.
Maier received another warning from the school division when she posted a story on social media about a girl who died by suicide and left a note that it was because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In her termination letter, GSSD stated that, “Pursuant to Article 3.1 of the CUPE 4784 collective bargaining agreement, the decision was reached following a thorough investigation into a recent social media post made by you on a Facebook group entitled Sask Unified Neighbours. The content of this post has been brought to our attention and is in direct conflict with AP 143: Social Media, AP 170:Discrimination, the Employee Code of Conduct, GSSD foundational beliefs and the core values that our organization upholds”.
The letter continued, “The Good Spirit School Division prides itself on maintaining a respectful and inclusive environment that promotes diversity, equality, and the well-being of all students and employees. While we respect the rights of our employees to express their opinions outside the workplace, it is essential that our employees uphold the core values of our organization, both professionally and personally”.
Maier reflected on her days in the education system. She remembers the many times she walked down the hallway interacting with the students. “I loved going above and beyond for those kids”.
Speaking directly about her termination, Leah explained, “I was terminated because I shared a post from a Christian news source. I had to be immediately off the property. I felt as if I’d done something really wrong. I had to be off that property, like I was some bad person. I was notified close to 2:00 P.M. I had until 3:30 P.M. that day to hand my keys in and clear all of my things”.
Maier wanted to clarify that she enjoyed her time with the elementary school and that the staff and students are excellent. She added that she would go back to work there “in a heart-beat”.
A message was left with the Good Spirit School Division, but a response was not given prior to the time of publication.
