I worked part-time as a paid chorister in a local church choir and was recently fired for sexual misconduct. There's a part in the service where people greet each other. I usually would shake hands with the guys and give hugs to the ladies in the choir because I felt there was a sense of comraderie. But, I was called by the church organist on a Saturday morning in mid-March to say my employment was severed immediately. I asked why and she said "you should know." Well, if I knew then I wouldn't ask. She said to call one of the church wardens and they would explain because it turns out she was too uncomfortable about talking about it. Well, if the organist won't talk about it, then obviously I could never be told earlier that some women were bothered by my hugs. The end result that got me fired is I made a cute joke to one of the female choristers and it was complained because it was viewed as inappropriate.

Because of the season starting to close it's almost impossible to find regular church choir jobs until the summer/fall when churches may advertise.

I wanted to give you a true background on exactly what happened

My question is, can I sue for wrongful dismissal and defamation of character?

A few people in both the choir and even congregation no longer speak to me. I may have erred with the joke but I was never told that the hugs were offensive to anyone. I know this wasn't a serious firing because I didn't cause any physical or mental harm to anyone. But I have been very hurt by this and honestly don't think I was fairly fired. Had this organist had the guts to talk to me in private way earlier then I'd have fixed my issues