Ex-Florida Virtual School employee says she was fired for raising separation of church and state concerns

An ex-Florida Virtual School (FLVS) employee is suing and accusing her former employer of blurring the lines between separation of church and state by giving donations to a religious-tied organization and then firing her when she voiced concerns about it.

In her federal lawsuit filed in Orlando, Jessica Robertson said she lost her job as a curriculum coordinator after she brought up that FLVS was giving money to One More Child, run by the Florida Baptist Children’s Homes.

The Orlando-based online public school declined to comment on pending litigation but said in a statement Wednesday: “As a government entity, our organization does not donate funds to any organization. Occasionally, our team members come together and choose to support their communities through volunteer opportunities and personal donations. These opportunities are voluntary and organized by individual team members.”

Robertson said in her lawsuit that she had been open with her colleagues that she was attending an Orlando conference in March 2023 for “atheists, agnostics, freethinkers, and skeptics” that also delved into issues of separation of church and state.

“Subsequently, on April 10, 2023, Plaintiff reported a Separation of Church and State violation to her direct supervisor Samantha Bowman: an email for the Polk County Community Builders meetup requested attendees bring items to donate to One More Child, run by Florida Baptist Children’s Homes, as part of Defendant’s Gives Back program. Plaintiff called Bowman to express concern regarding collecting donations for a religious organization under the FLVS name,” the lawsuit said.

Robertson’s boss told Robertson, “I think there are a lot of issues” about the donations, Robertson’s lawsuit said.

Robertson was eventually terminated without cause May 16 after she had returned from time off, her lawsuit said.

She claimed in her lawsuit that she lost her job due to “discrimination for being a nontheist and retaliation for engaging in protected activity that continues to have a chilling effect on Plaintiff’s post-employment job reference communications.”

Robertson had worked at the virtual school since 2019 and received good reviews until she got fired, she said in court documents.

Robertson’s attorney did not respond to a request for comment or to questions.