An employment tribunal has heard that a teacher, sacked after his lessons were described as “inadequate”, claims he was being targeted.
John Beardshall, who was a teacher at Brinsworth Comprehensive School in Rotherham, went on sick leave for stress, anxiety and depression and was eventually sacked a year later in May 2009. He claimed that he had suffered psychiatric injury following an unannounced class visit by the school’s former head teacher and deputy.
The spot check revealed that students were arriving late for his lessons, were not challenged about this and did not appear to know what they were doing whilst in class. The school also claimed that Mr Beardshall missed deadlines for submitting work records and that he had spied on a new teacher through a peephole.
Mr Beardshall, who did not appear at the Sheffield tribunal due to ill health, is claiming unfair dismissal and discrimination on the grounds of disability and trade union activities. He claimed in a witness statement, that the feedback he got was an absolute travesty and amounted to “gross victimisation”.
Mike Gray, the school’s former head teacher, said there had been no barrage of criticism and comments of “inadequate” related to the lesson rather than the teacher. The tribunal panel reserved its judgement for a later date.
http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/teacher_sacked_while_on_sick_leave_1_3552539