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A TEACHER AT a primary school will receive compensation over comments made about her son’s sexual orientation.
The Equality Tribunal ruled in favour of the teacher, who took a case against the board of management of a Church of Ireland primary school in the west of Ireland.
A learning support and resource teacher said she was discriminated against because she was not a practicing Church of Ireland teacher and because her son is gay.
She started working at the school on 1 November 2006. She said there was an ongoing issue with comments made by the principal relating to religion and her son’s sexual orientation.
The teacher said the principal, who denied the allegations, remarked that a “normal boy” would not spend an afternoon shopping for clothes.
She noted that at a valedictory service held in the local secondary school, her son made a humorous reference to being gay. During the speech he was wearing a pink blazer, something the principal is reported to have raised in the national school the following Monday.
The teacher claimed the principal said the speech and her son’s attire were not appropriate and she also questioned what kind of mother she was to have a son like that. She added that the principal was critical of her son, saying he was gay in a church setting. She said a colleague told her about the principal making similar comments about her son on other occasions.
Catholics
The teacher said the principal also criticised the behaviour of Catholics in church, calling children of Church of Ireland faith “our children” and the “right people”. On another occasion, the principal allegedly described two families as having no breeding and the complainant attributed this statement as referring to the fact they were being Catholic.
The teacher also said the principal spoke about the negative effect on a local secondary school (where the principal’s daughter attended) of Catholics joining the school.
She had worked for some time in schools in London before returning to Ireland. She had an adaptation period within which she was required to acquire an Irish language qualification. She had not obtained this and her entitlement to work in a national school was then restricted to resource teaching roles.
She said she had consulted with the Department of Education about her position and had also liaised with the school. The tribunal notes that she had been “very upset to receive a telephone call in early May 2013 from the principal where she was accused of not having done her probation, of getting the school into trouble and that the complainant should never have been employed at the school”.
The principal said she was shocked to receive a letter of complaint on 17 September 2013. She said she had never discriminated against the complainant and had sought to include her at all events involving the school.
‘Tricking her way to a contract’
The teacher became entitled to a contract of indefinite duration after four years of service.
On the 20 May 2013, when she had returned from an absence of two weeks, she said the principal accused her of “tricking her way to a contract of indefinite duration and that she wanted a person of the Church of Ireland faith in the role”.
She said the school had “a cold atmosphere where she was repeatedly undermined by the principal when she would say that complainant had not completed her probation”. She said she had not been required to do probation in Ireland as she had done so in the UK.
The chair of the board of management outlined that she and the board were not aware of the issues encountered by the complainant, noting that once they found out, in September 2013, they “reacted as best they could”.
Speech
She said the principal had been very upset at the contents of the speech made by the complainant’s son at the valedictory service in relation to comments made about the principal’s daughter, a fellow student, who was mocked for being the daughter of a farmer.
The chair said the principal did not think it was appropriate for the complainant’s son to describe himself as “a genius and gay” in a speech delivered in the church.
The chair said that she did not feel that the speech had been appropriate, in particular the comments made about fellow students.
Redress
In respect of redress, the teacher said she was looking for an acknowledgement that what had happened to her was wrong and sought no financial compensation. The tribunal noted that, in the ordinary course of events, this case would attract “a significant award of damages”.
The ruling officer said an award of €3,000 is merited, and ordered all staff and members of the board of management participate in training on equality, discrimination and harassment.
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Great negotiation skills by a so called world leader.
@Tony Gordon: T’was those same great negotiation skills that got the pharmacy industry to lower their prices after he met up with them 2 years ago.Oh,wait…
@Francis Mc Carthy: yep. Pharma prices to increase in January https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-drugpricing-exclusive/exclusive-big-pharma-returning-to-u-s-price-hikes-in-january-after-pause-idUSKCN1OJ01E
@Francis Mc Carthy: Nothing of the sort. It was the public outcry. Then he goes and screws his red necks with messing about with health care.
@Francis Mc Carthy: prices lowered? Who are you kidding? Someone just died in the US because they couldn’t afford their insulin.
@Francis Mc Carthy: sorry missed the sarcasm the first time…
What a very strange system of government the Americans have. One man can shut down services and affect peoples livelihoods over a wall. Very strange indeed.
I like the system
@Toby Fish: Troll?
@Toby Fish: you could always back your bags. Go live in Russia
@Darren McCormack: technically he can’t. Republicans are just cowards. All 100 Senators agreed to a deal funding the government over a month ago. Trump says he will veto that deal but guess what? A veto can be overturned by a 2/3 majority in the House and Senate. Both of whom could easily do this if they wanted. Long story short, Pelosi will now start passing individual bills for individual federal entities to get back to work and either get them to the Senate and passed or make McConnell refuse to reopen the government and adding another name to keep Don company in the title of this shutdown.
@Picture This:or America
@Darren McCormack: yes, it is a troll, best ignore it
@Darren McCormack: There’s a government on the island of Ireland that’s been closed for two years, glass houses and all that…
@James Wallace: I can’t like the American president without being a troll? You have a warped mind
@Paul Darby: Power gets transferred to Westminster and public services continue. Totally different, bud.
No one has ever sat down in front of him and said No until now and he can’t handle it.
Crazy can be medicated, ignorance can be educated, but there ain’t no cure for stupid.
@Pius Flynn: isn’t a not, ain’t no
Incredible to think worlds greatest power doesn’t understand the concept of a Ladder.
@iohanx: or a tunnel. Or the ocean. Or a plane. Cartels have even used a makeshift catapult on the back up a pickup to launch drugs over the border
@iohanx: Or a tunnel.
He’s an utter embarrassment at this stage.
This is typical behaviour for a bully who is used to getting his own way. Usually if you disagree with him you get fired, but he can’t fire Democrats.
Leave him call his so called emergency, it’ll result in him taking over 5billion out of the military budget which they will be pissed at, which in turn will make republicans pissed at him.
Oh and it’ll also fail horribly as both Democrats and republicans will take cases to court to stop him.
Even republicans will want him out of the job once they see he’s over stepped his mark.
@Barry Somers: oh I’d say the Republicans already want him gone.
@Barry Somers: And it was never an emergency the previous 2 years when they had control. The fool.
@Paul Furey: They didn’t have a two thirds majority in the senate. But I won’t call you a fool.
@Shane Dignam: they still don’t so offer that as a reason for the timing is foolish
@Paul Furey: By calling for the funding now, Trump can blame the Democrats for not getting it.
@Gerard McDermott: he always could. Democrats had massive gains in the midterms and they all ran on opposing the wall.
USA is arguing over a useless wall while it abandons its friends
@trebloc01: Trump hates democracy, he shuns democratically elected leaders and admirers dictators like Kim Jong-Un.
Trump is an embarrassment to his country and a danger to the world
@Dotty He shouldn’t have made peace with rocket Man. The continuous nuclear testing and threats were much better
@Dotty Dunleary: Would you like to show me some examples of genuine democracy in the West please? And how is Trump any different than Obama, or May, Macron, Merkel (3 M’s?), or any other Western head of state that feel they can invade a sovereign nation to achieve its own agenda?
I’m all for calling out fools, tyrants and despots, but let us be consistent and unbiased, lest we lose credibility.
@Toby Fish: the tests didnt stop, Trumps summit with N K was a failure, but he still claims it was a success
@James Wallace: when was the last one? Do you know something everyone else doesn’t?
The GOP controlled both the Senate and congress for the first two years of his presidency, so why didn’t he try to obtain the funds then? Why wait until he had lost control of the house?
@Paul Quinlan: because his election promise was that Mexico would pay for it. He got no traction there so no he is looking inward to the American tax payer to fund his vanity project.
@Paul Quinlan: so he can blame someone else for his failure
He passed out candy… I don’t know if that’s better or worse than walking off in a strop
@thomas patrick: what’s worse again is Pence using the candy as proof that Trump came in good faith. “No, we won’t find your wall” “But I brought candy, surely tha…” “NO” “But, but, but, but the candy”
The democrats are as much to blame. They would rather increase foreign aid to other countries rather than protect own border. Takes two to tango.
@Jack Simpson: There’s only one boss. The buck stops with the boss.
@Jack Simpson: There was over 303,000 border apprehensions in 2017 alone,it’s already well protected.
The Democrats offered plenty of money to the ‘great negotiator’ early last year,& the ‘great negotiator’ only went and turned it down (twice) .So don’t go blaming the Democrats for that guys ‘yuge’ failures.
@Jack Simpson: The “two to tango” argument has already been ripped to shreds. Keep up (and Google “false equivalency”).
@Jack Simpson: Do you think you’re convincing anyone with that nonsense?
The Budget was passed 100-0. Trump refused to sign it because Fox news called him names.
The only reason it’s not getting voted on again in the Senate is because the same people that voted for it the first time know it’ll annoy Tango Palpatine and he’ll again refuse to sign.
Mitch McConnell says that he won’t bring to the Senate any shutdown resolution (that Congress passes) that the president isn’t committed to sign. Basically he is allowing Tango Palpatine to hold the country to ransom for a ridiculous wall. E-Verify would have been a better hill to die on if he REALLY cared about immigration!
@Francis Mc Carthy: Huge
@Juan Fangio: So that removes democrats from any responsibility? The president is not a dictator. He requires support from democrats on this issue. Border security was one of the reasons why he was elected. Dems appear to be engaging in political theatrics like with Russiagate.
@Francis Mc Carthy: How many potential border apprehensions were missed due to inadequate security? Don’t border guards support Trump on this? I’d believe them over Francis McCarthy any day.
@Kem Trayle: How has it?
@Jack Simpson: You say the president is not a dictator, I think someone needs to explain this to him. Border security was one of the issues that got him elected, another was his great experience in business, you probably know he “wrote” a book, “The art of the Deal”, what a joke, he was going to make great deals for America around the world. He can’t even do a deal with his own government, storming out of meetings like a spoiled child.
@Jack Simpson: Have you got any idea on how many people have got in to the US due to inadequate security ? Maybe you should e-mail the border security guards and ask them what they believe the numbers to be ?
ps; I don’t care if you believe them over me.xxxoooxxx
@Shane Dignam: that’s what she says.
@Francis Mc Carthy: When she said “huge knob” last night, I don’t think she meant what you think.
@Shane Dignam: your hearing is bad.Your eyesight is worse :p
It’s my way or no way
The US really is a failed state at this stage.
Finally a leader we can trust. A man of integrity. #MAGA
@michael smith: Trust to shut the nation down.
@michael smith: Why are Americans targeting Irish websites now???
And yet he’ll get re-elected USAUSA
He’s backed himself into a corner on this-His primaries campaign only really took off when he started banging in about the wall (and lock her up, another failed promise).
He’s a man who has used to getting his own way all the time, so expect the mother of all tantrums and deflection in the next few weeks.
Dude is obsessed with walls!!
It’s funny how an event can be perceived in different ways and how you see it depends on your preconceived notions. Was he playing hardball or throwing his toys out of the pram? Maybe it depends on the final outcome. But it seems like a silly game to play.
Samalia pirates can board a moving tanker in open water the size of multistory car park with rope and bamboo and this fool thinks nobody can scale a wall.
Trump is a developer, I wonder who gets the contract to build this wall he is so desperate to get built
@Ciarán Ó Dubhda: If you think the Wall is suspect you should look at his Infrastructure plan…. all private companies getting huge tax breaks and they would then own what they build.
“How much more American blood must be shed”
Is he for real.i don’t have any figures to back this up but I’m pretty confident that more Americans are killed by Americans using guns in the USA than immigrants crossing the border.sort your gun problem out first before you build any stupid wall.
@Tony Hanratty: Illegal immigrants should not be in the country in the first place. That’s what makes crime by this demographic so hard to swallow.
This wall idea is nonsense and simply a campaign pledge that Trump wants to tick off but illegal immigration and the drugs/crime that come with it has to be tackled.
Whataboutery regarding America’s gun culture won’t make this separate issue go away.
Obama, Biden, Clinton, Pelosi are all on record calling for stronger border controls/barriers until Trump came to power. Then they suddenly change their tune.
Partisan politics is destroying America and Trump is not solely to blame for this.
@Tony Hanratty: You really should’ve stopped after “i don’t have any figures to back this up”
The Art of the Deal. Lol
So now he’s holding 800,000 employees hostage and he wants to negotiate?
Right..
Time for yellow vests
Headline is completely incorrect according to the majority of the meeting.
It’s funny how it’s the democrats refusal to work with trump on anything that he proposes that caused the shutdown, and now their hope is that people will blame trump out of impatience… but no it’s all trumps fault. Don’t be sheep, do your own research.
He’s like a child!
Sick of hearing about this fool everyday.. YAWN..
Trump claimed that he is some kind of world class deal maker and negotiator ..except now when it comes down to it he is being exposed for the fraudster that he really is ..the guy is an absolute charlatan..he has no skill in solving problems rather he just creates them
He was elected on a campaign promise to build this wall, the new trade deal with Mexico pays for the wall, all these democrats opposing him are on camera saying they need to build a wall a few years ago, 100s of miles of wall was built during Obama administration. He is right to walk out, he already told them there’s no deal without the wall, border security want the wall. Ye haven’t a clue.
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