QuoteTeacher sacked for being 'too sexy'
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Divorcee Caterina Bonci (38) talks to the media yesterday claiming she was sacked by Catholic Church authorities from her school post where she taught religion because her dress code was 'too sexy'. Picture: Reuters
A RELIGIOUS studies teacher claims that she has been dismissed for being too attractive and wearing miniskirts.
Caterina Bonci (38) has taught religious education in Fano on the Adriatic coast for 14 years. Now the tall, blonde, blue-eyed teacher is claiming unfair dismissal.
However, Father Alcide Baldelli, the director of religious education for the Fano Diocese, said that she had been removed because she was a divorcee.
Ms Bonci, who was married at 18 and has an 18-year-old daughter, was divorced 10 years ago, but has not had her marriage annulled.
Father Baldelli acknowledged that her appearance was also a factor. He had received many complaints from parents about her "daring miniskirts".
Ms Bonci insisted her attractiveness was the real reason for her dismissal. "I don't see what it matters if a teacher is good looking or not as long she is qualified," she said. "In school, I dressed normally. In my private life, I have every right to dress any way I want. The authorities have been fully aware of my divorce since 1995."
Father Baldelli said they had allowed her to continue only because the collapse of her marriage had not been her fault, and that she had a child to support. They had recommended that she apply for an ecclesiastical annulment and, meanwhile, continue on short-term contracts.
Ms Bonci said that she had never worn miniskirts to work, and had "the right to wear a bikini if I go to the beach, and to wear a skirt the same length as thousands of other women...I am not a nun".
But no matter who is right, Ms Bonci has been all over the Italian media demanding to go back to her job teaching religion to children in state schools on behalf of the local diocese.
Even Italy's leading newspaper, Corriere della Sera, gave readers a break from stories about scandals at the Bank of Italy and government bickering with the headline: "Teacher in mini-skirt fired by diocese."
The paper reported that too many fathers had sought discussions with her, adding: "The truth is, she is just too pretty."
Ms Bonci said reports that fathers accompanying their children to religion classes so they could look at her meant little to her as long as the children came to class.
"When a woman is considered too sexy and attractive in a small town it becomes a big thing," she added. (©The Times, London)
Richard Owen
in Rome
Originally Posted by joeSoap
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