Teacher wins unfair dismissal case against school
16 April 2008
A teacher from West London was ruled to be dismissed unfairly after he was sacked for claiming pupils were cheating.
The teacher named as Colin Cook was sacked at a school that he had worked for, for 18 years after he stopped the English exam taking place. Mr Cook saw the pupils taking in notes and so put a stop to the exam and filled a complaint to Edexcel (the examining body) and his employer. The school then sacked him for the public interest disclosers that he had made.
The employment tribunal awarded Colin with £69,300 for unfair dismissal but threw out the case of racial discrimination as the hearing ruled that he hadn't been dismissed for being British in an Islamic School after he claimed that the pupils were given textbooks which incited racial hatred.
The head teacher defended the school aptly by saying that the textbooks were never used and were set up by the government of Saudi Arabia. Other than that the school did not comment on the fact that Colin Cook had been awarded £58,800 for loss of earnings and a further £10,500 for injury to his feelings.
Liam Kenealy, Employment Solicitor comments; "This is a clear case of whistleblowing, an act which provided it has been carried out in the correct manner protects the employee making the disclosure. This protection allows employees to report malpractice in the workplace without fear of losing their job. If you are dismissed for whistleblowing then you can make a claim for unfair dismissal - you do not have to have the usual one year's service to qualify in this instance.
If you believe that you have been dismissed for whistleblowing or are unsure as to how about making a disclosure please contact our Employment Team on 0114 275 2888.