Education Updates

Can a teacher be disciplined by a local authority rather than her school?

Yes, held Justice Supperstone in the case of Davies v Haringey LBC [2014] EWHC 3393.

In this case the Claimant, Mrs Julie Davies, was employed by the London Borough of Haringey (“Haringey LBC”) as a full-time qualified assistant teacher at Northumberland Park Community School (“the School”).  After 5 years of employment with the School, the Claimant was elected as the Deputy Divisional Secretary of the National Union of Teachers for Haringey.  She was released from her teaching duties for three days each week to enable her to carry out her trade union activities and for the remaining two days she continued her usual teaching role.  Three years later the Claimant started working for the NUT full time, although she continued to be paid as a teacher of the School.

By letter, dated 17 July 2014, Haringey LBC suspended the Claimant from her post because of alleged breaches of Haringey LBC’s Code of Conduct and Social Media Policy.  The suspension only had the effect of preventing the Claimant from working as Divisional Secretary of the Union and representing its members in the Defendant Borough.

The issue in the case was whether Haringey LBC had the right to subject the Claimant to disciplinary action or whether only the School had the right to do so.  The Claimant’s case was that her employer was the governing body and not the local authority (even if she had become an unattached teacher) and so exclusive power to suspend lay with the School.

The Claimant claimed that by suspending her, the Local Authority was in breach of her employment contract, asserting that, by reason of regulation 19 the School Staffing (England) Regulations 2009 (“the Regulations”), only the governing body had the power to suspend her.

The Council argued that the Regulations applied only to those who worked in schools, and the reality of the situation was that the Claimant had not done so for a long time.  Further the Council argued that regulation 19 of the Regulations gave a power to the governing body to suspend but did not take away the Council’s power to suspend under the contract of employment.

The Judge held that as the Claimant had not worked at the School for 14 years, her original contract of employment had been varied by the parties by express agreement or impliedly by the conduct of the party, she ceased being a full-time teacher working at the School and became a non-practising teacher carrying out trade union activities full time.  The Judge further held that albeit the contractual variation, the School Staffing (England) Regulations 2009 did not remove the Council’s power to suspend.  The Judge therefore held that Haringey LBC did have the power to suspend the Claimant and take disciplinary action against her.