Kristina Hart hugging a girl whom she taught to swim. (7News)
LOUDOUN COUNTY, Va. (7News) — When a longtime Loudoun County aquatics director was fired from the job she had for years, she was shocked and hurt. She’s also angry, and the kids she taught to swim and their parents are upset, too.
“It’s my passion. It’s my love,” Kristina Hart told 7News Reporter Nick Minock. “I'm going to miss it big time.”
Hart was the Aquatics Director and Director of Swim Programs at the Ashburn Village Sports Pavilion for almost ten years.
“I built the program from the ground up,” said Hart.
Under Hart’s leadership, the aquatics center grew to host a thousand visitors per week. It’s where many families in Northern Virginia and the Ashburn Village bring their kids for swim lessons and recreation.
Jacquelyn Porter has been bringing her son and daughter there for years.
“Moving around a lot, we don't have family close by, so having another trusted person that's been in our life one to two times a week for almost three years has been a huge impact on them,” said Porter. “I fully trust her.”
Porter said her kids joined swim lessons directly with Hart two years ago, and Porter said it was “phenomenal.”
“She [Porter’s daughter] was socially very shy, scared of the water,” said Porter. “When he [Porter’s son] was born, there were some worries of developmental issues, but once we got him in the water, everything has worked out, and they loved it, and they've excelled. And actually, we just had another coach ask us how old he is because they want to try and put him on [the] swim team, but he's only three. You have to be five. So they thought he was good enough at this point that they were wanting to try and get him on the team. That's how far coach Kristina has taken my kids, from no face in the water to trying to get him on a team way too early.”
“It just is heartbreaking for the community,” Porter said of Hart’s firing. “There’s hundreds of children directly affected by it.”
Hart told 7News the trouble started last year when she arranged for five employees to get swim coach training in Florida.
She needed everyone’s full legal name to book the plane tickets. Once they were booked, another employee shared the flight itinerary in a group chat.
Hart said one of the staff complained because the plane tickets that were shared in the group had the person’s legal name, which did not match their gender identity.
“It was sent by another coach, and my boss reached out and said, ‘Hey, somebody's legal name was just used in that group chat. You got to be careful of that,” said Hart.
Hart said her boss wrote an apology and told Hart to send it. She did.
Hart said that the employee’s performance was declining.
Hart said she went to her supervisor 29 times with issues about the employee’s performance, ranging from issues with teaching swim lessons to supervising kids, and the employee distracting the only lifeguard who was supposed to watch kids in the pool.
“If it had been any other employee, they would have been terminated, but this employee was protected,” said Hart.
“Why were they protected?” Minock asked.
“They're transgender, and so they were using that status to keep themselves protected,” Hart answered.
Hart said her boss did not allow the employee to be on a performance improvement plan.
So, Hart sat down with the employee to encourage them on how they could improve their performance.
After that, Hart got pulled into her boss’ office.
“And they said, ‘This is going to be a hard conversation, but we're parting ways with you,” said Hart. “And they said, ‘You told another employee that this employee is transgender.’ And I said, ‘Can I get some examples? Can I be told when I said this, what did I say?'” said Hart.
Hart said her bosses replied, “It doesn't matter. That's why we're letting you go.”
Hart then discovered her boss wanted her to train her replacement, the transgender employee, whose complaints got her fired.
Hart refused.
A few days later, while Hart was coaching a swim meet, the sports pavilion sent an email to clients and staff announcing Hart was being let go, effective immediately.
“If I were a parent that saw this email come out, that this person that had done so much for my children was just gone, like thrown out like the trash,” said Hart. “I would think they did something very terribly and something wrong with a child. And so I said, ‘I need to get my story out there. I need to tell everybody why I was terminated and why it was wrong.'”
7News asked the Ashburn Sports Pavilion and their human resources company, Arch Amenity Group, to speak with us about Hart’s firing, and 7News requested an interview with the employee who complained about Kristina.
General Manager Gayle Terrio declined in an email, saying, “We remain committed to ensuring the strength and continuity of our Aquatics program and to supporting the community we serve.”
Porter wants Hart back. If that doesn’t happen, she believes the Ashburn Village Homeowners Association, which owns the pool complex, should fire the people and the HR company responsible.
“We love her, we're behind her, we hope she comes back, and we're here to support her,” said Porter.
The homeowner's association said the board was not informed of the reasons for the termination, nor given an opportunity to weigh in on the decision.
Porter fears that now that Kristina is gone, the swim program will suffer and potentially lose business, which could impact HOA fees.
“The fact that I pay monthly fees, and I pay an additional fee for private, and I pay for swim team, and I have to pay for my swim kit, so I've invested a lot of money over the years,” said Porter. “I also pay for extra guest passes and pool passes to bring in family members to utilize the facilities. And when I go to the facility now, I feel uncomfortable and not included, and it's not a welcoming place, and I don't want my children to feel that way. It can affect their development. And other kids, it could affect going to college. It could affect their high school careers if they're not getting the proper swim team community and development. And I want it to be a safe place.”
ALSO READ | EXCLUSIVE: Video shows male sex offender entering Fairfax rec center women’s locker rooms
Porter added that non-HOA members paid to get swim lessons from Kristina at the sports pavilion.
“That's how well regarded she's made our programs,” said Porter.
“People want to pay extra money to come into our HOA,” added Porter. “The reason I was comfortable putting her [Porter's daughter] on [the] swim team was because coach Kristina was going to be there.”
Right now, a town hall is scheduled for May 20 at 6 p.m. at The Lakes Rec Center located at 44078 Cheltenham Circle in Ashburn, VA 20147, where members can express their opinions on what happened.