NEW YORK — High School guidance counselor Tiffany Webb is suing New York City's Department of Education for wrongful termination after being fired in December for online photos of her modeling lingerie.
Webb, 37, was discharged from the Murry Bergtraum High School for Business Careers in Manhattan on Dec. 23 after a three-member chancellor's committee decided 2-to-1 that the photos represented "conduct unbecoming" of a DOE employee.
The photos, according to Webb and her employment specialist attorney Stewart Karlin, were taken more than 15-years ago when Webb was between the ages of 18 and 20, and have been posted online without permission by websites such as Showgirlz Exclusive and Mo Girls Entertainment.
"She had no control over it," Karlin told the NYPost.com.
Webb has served 12-years as a DOE employee and was just days away from securing tenure as an $84,200-a-year guidance counselor.
She is suing the DOE in Brooklyn Supreme Court for wrongful termination, sex discrimination and violation of First Amendment rights, and is seeking reinstatement, back pay and punitive damages.
“I am a dedicated professional and enjoyed being a guidance counselor,” Webb told the site. “I did my job well, and my students and parents thought very highly of me. I would love to return to the DOE and resume the career I have chosen to help and guide students.”
Webb disclosed her previous adult modeling career to the DOE prior to being hired as an educator in 1999. Her past came to light at Murry Bergtraum after a student showed ex-principal Andrea Lewis semi-nude photos of the counselor. Webb has now changed her name and is currently teaching in New Jersey.
