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Teachers win unfair dismissal case after being accused of inflating pupil grades

David Stephenson acted for Mrs Rosa Phillips and Mrs Elizabeth Tye, teachers at Our Lady’s Primary School in Herefordshire, who won their claims for unfair dismissal. The case was heard in Cambridge Employment Tribunal over 11-days.

The ET found that Mr Adams, who played an active role in the investigation into the teachers and their suspension, “had already concluded that issues relating to pupils’ levels amounted to deliberate inflation by the leadership and closed his mind to other possible explanations.” Mr Adams behaved in an intimidating and aggressive way towards them during their investigation interviews, which affected the fairness of the investigation process and the report was relied upon at the disciplinary hearings. Further, the disciplinary hearings did not carry out an inquiry into the accuracy of the data being relied upon or address each of the teacher’s concerns raised. The ET found that the dismissal was unfair. The matter will be listed for remedy.

David was instructed by the National Education Union. A copy of the liability judgment can be found here.

Read more: BBC, Telegraph, ITV News, The Coment