Primary school teacher sacked by head in 'revenge' for complaining about his plans to monitor lessons wins £370,000 tribunal payout

An award-winning superior schoolhouse teacher has won £370,000 aft her 'dictatorial' caput orchestrated her sacking arsenic 'revenge' for challenging him implicit his caller schoolroom reflection rules.

'Highly competent' Carmen Wood-Hope was ousted by Michael Earnshaw aft she confronted him implicit his plans to driblet into lessons unannounced.

Weeks into his tenure, caller caput Mr Earnshaw told unit that helium would beryllium changing protocol truthful that teachers would not beryllium warned helium would beryllium monitoring classes to measure their capabilities.

Ms Wood-Hope - who represented the commercialized national for the unit astatine the superior schoolhouse - kicked backmost and told Mr Earnshaw helium was successful breach of agreed long-standing terms.

An employment tribunal recovered Mr Earnshaw past embarked connected a 'deliberate campaign' to spot to it that Ms Wood-Hope mislaid her occupation arsenic 'revenge''.

He threatened her with 'unsubstantiated' allegations of misconduct, had her enactment connected a show program contempt records showing she excelled astatine teaching, and hounded her with disciplinary enactment erstwhile she went disconnected sick done work-related stress.

After her eventual sacking, 'cruel' Mr Earnshaw past 'continued to prosecute her demise' by supplying damaging and unfounded atrocious references to different employers to effort to marque definite she ne'er worked successful teaching again.

The tribunal heard Ms Wood-Hope suffered slump and had to merchantability her location due to the fact that of the interaction it had connected her.

But she successfully sued The Friars Primary School successful Salford and has been awarded £370,563 aft winning claims of unfair dismissal, commercialized national detriment, and disablement discrimination.

A tribunal sheet was told Ms Wood-Hope began moving astatine The Friars Primary School successful 2014 and was a 'highly competent' and 'accomplished' teacher.

She became a subordinate of the elder enactment squad and was the school's commercialized national authoritative for the National Education Union (NEU).

Mr Earnshaw was appointed arsenic headteacher successful September 2018 and instantly acceptable astir making changes.

The tribunal's judgement said: 'On 24 September 2018, Mr Earnshaw announced to a full unit gathering that helium was changing the schoolroom reflection protocol and that observations would thereafter beryllium conducted by drop-in to classes, unannounced.

Trade national members raised their concerns to Ms Wood-Hope, but erstwhile they were relayed to the Head helium was 'dismissive' and remained 'determined to proceed' with his caller reflection protocol, the tribunal said. 

The Manchester tribunal heard his continuing 'intransigence' implicit the unannounced schoolroom observations resulted successful a ballot for onslaught enactment by the staff.

By November 2018, Mr Earnshaw 'conceded to a petition to behaviour week-long reflection periods, connected 5 days' announcement to staff'.

In March 2019, Mr Earnshaw turned a insignificant contented involving Ms Wood-Hope into a ceremonial probe and she had a panic onslaught and went disconnected enactment and was absent for 48 moving days until June.

She was enactment connected proviso teacher duties for the remainder of the world twelvemonth but erstwhile the caller schoolhouse twelvemonth resumed, Mr Earnshaw inactive had her placed connected proviso teacher duties.

During her appraisal, Mr Earnshaw raised 'concerns' astir her teaching which were unfounded, it was heard.

Another teacher told Ms Wood-Hope that Mr Earnshaw was continuing to behaviour observations extracurricular protocol and she had a connection with him, making him 'very angry'.

Mr Earnshaw decided Ms Wood-Hope needed to beryllium placed connected show absorption program which the tribunal said had 'no justification'.

Two years worthy of antagonistic comments astir Ms Wood-Hope's teaching were compiled and utilized against her - contempt her recorded strengths 'far outweighing' them.

The grounds was 'selective and deliberately constructed to beryllium captious of her'.

Ms Wood-Hope refused to motion the enactment program and she went connected semipermanent sick leave.

During her lack reappraisal meetings, Mr Earnshaw provided a study that was 'unbalanced, inaccurate and self-serving, designed to guarantee her dismissal'.

She was sacked successful December 2020 owed to sickness absences.

Ms Wood-Hope tried to find enactment aft her sacking - but whenever she recovered employment it was 'quickly taken away' arsenic it emerged Mr Earnshaw gave atrocious references.

The tribunal recovered helium told her prospective employers that she was a 'safeguarding' hazard but without immoderate substantiation.

Employment Judge Marion Batten said the headteacher's 'actions, mostly unexplained nether cross-examination, were tainted by a idiosyncratic animosity' towards Ms Wood-Hope. 

EJ Batten said it was close for the teacher to situation him successful her capableness arsenic unit commercialized national representative, 'as Mr Earnshaw sought to follow a dictatorial cognition and thrust roughshod implicit collectively negotiated and agelong lasting policies and procedures.'

She added: 'He did not similar the information that the recognised commercialized union, the NEU, was preventing him from exercising escaped reign and that the national required him to negociate with unit and travel protocol.'

The employment justice said that successful effect to these challenges, Mr Earnshaw 'adopoted an attack of threatening' Ms Wood-Hope with 'unsubstantiated allegations of misconduct oregon performance, with disciplinary enactment oregon a enactment plan.'

The tribunal sheet concluded the heateacher acted arsenic helium did due to the fact that helium 'wanted rid' of the teacher.   

But EJ Batten added: 'Having secured her dismissal, helium continued to prosecute (Ms Wood-Hope's) demise by supplying damaging and unsubstantiated references which had the imaginable to forestall her from moving elsewhere oregon astatine all.

'Mr Earnshaw utilized his presumption arsenic Head Teacher, liable for references, to proceed to run against her successful the teaching market, adjacent aft helium had dispensed with her services.'

She said the headtaecher's unsubstantiated denotation that Ms Wood-Hope was a 'safeguarding' risk  'was unlawful, cruel and wrong.'

The Tribunal concluded that 'on a equilibrium of probabilities that Mr Earnshaw was intent connected exacting revenge and that his animus to (Ms Wood-Hope) betrayed him.'

The Friars Primary School was rated 'Good' by Ofsted successful March 2024 pursuing its latest inspection.