A disabled teacher has been awarded £140,000 in damages after an employment tribunal ruled she was harassed over her sick leave. Annika Robinson, a design and technology teacher at Southgate School in Enfield, north London, faced comments that she had "let colleagues down" and that her return from a back operation coincided with a move to half pay.
Miss Robinson, who worked for the Middlesex Learning Trust, took sick leave in October 2020 after contracting COVID-19 and later underwent a surgical discectomy. She returned to work in March 2021, but subsequently began a period of absence due to migraines while on a phased return.
In April 2021, she was invited to a meeting with six staff members, where she was told she had "let her colleagues down and her students down". Senior deputy head Paul Ferrie also said that both students and colleagues had suffered as a result of her absence. The headteacher was reported to have made a cynical remark about her return coinciding with a reduction to half pay.
Employment judge Mr Partington found the comments to be unwanted conduct, stating that they were "unsympathetic and unnecessary" and had the effect of violating Miss Robinson's dignity or creating a hostile, degrading or offensive environment. He noted that Miss Robinson described the remarks as "extremely disrespectful" and "disgusting" at the time.
Miss Robinson won claims of harassment and unfavourable treatment arising from disability. The tribunal recommended that the trust implement disability awareness training for its senior management staff.
