Washington, Apr 4 (IANS): A school teacher in one of New York City's Long Island suburbs has claimed that she was sacked last week for an old topless selfie and is now threatening to sue her former school district for gender discrimination.

Lauren Miranda, 25, a former maths teacher at Bellport Middle School, took a topless selfie in 2016 and sent it to her then-boyfriend, who also works at the school, said her attorney John Ray in a news conference earlier this week.

In January, a student obtained the selfie and the image circulated through the school, Ray said.

According to a Fox News report on Wednesday, the teacher said she had no idea how the student obtained the photo. She was then subsequently placed on paid administrative leave and then fired.

Miranda said she plans to file a $3 million federal lawsuit alleging gender discrimination unless she's reinstated.

"I loved my job, I never woke up in the morning and didn't want to go. I loved my students, my faculty. I really thought this is where I was going to spend the next thirty years of my life."

According to court documents provided by Ray's law firm, the district had said Miranda was not a good role model because of the photo. "My career has been ruined, my reputation has been tarnished, I have been stigmatized. "Everything I have worked so hard for has been stolen from me because of one innocuous selfie."

Ray accused the school district of sexism, saying that a male teacher would not have been fired had the same thing happened to him.

The school district didn't comment on the litigation.