SAN DIEGO, May 6 (UPI) -- A California appeals court has upheld a San Diego school district's firing of a middle-school teacher for posting a sexually explicit ad in Craigslist.
The 4th District Court of Appeal in San Diego overturned a lower court ruling that an ad Frank Lampedusa placed was unrelated to his ability to teach middle-school pupils. On a 3-0 vote, the appeals court found Lampedusa's behavior showed he was unfit to teach and "serve as a role model" for his students.
Lampedusa, 47, was dean of students at Farb Middle School from 1999 until 2008 when he was fired for posting photos and a sexually explicit ad in the "men seeking men" section of Craigslist, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Friday.
The ad, which included photos of Lampedusa's genitals, solicited oral and anal sex. The posting did not mention his name or include his contact information, which could be obtained only through Craigslist. The Website mandated its users state they were at least 18 years old.
In June 2008, a man describing himself as the father of a Farb student called a police dispatcher about Lampedusa's ad and Lampedusa removed the ad at the behest of the school superintendent, who had been contacted by police. Lampedusa was fired in November 2008, the Chronicle said.
Lampedusa appealed his termination before the California Commission on Professional Competence, saying he had posted five or six similar ads in the past, considered them adult and private and did not believe they were immoral. The commission described the ad as "vulgar and inappropriate" in a June 2009 decision, but said there was no evidence a student, parent or teacher had seen the posting or that it had any bearing on Lampedusa's ability to teach.
