Black PE teacher who was sacked by white headmaster who she accused of treating her like an ‘angry black woman’ wins unfair dismissal payout
- Teacher Louise Lewis sued North Huddersfield Trust School in West Yorkshire
A black PE teacher sacked after accusing her white head master of discrimination has won her case of unfair dismissal and victimisation.
Louise Lewis suggested to Andrew Fell that he may have breached equality laws after he launched disciplinary proceedings against her, an employment tribunal heard.
As the leader of a multicultural school, the new head – who was inexperienced and had yet to develop a ‘rhinoceros skin’ – was floored by the accusation.
At one point the tribunal heard claims, he denied, that he told Lewis he ‘could do what he wanted’.
She also alleged Mr Fell had used ‘racial connotations’ to characterise her as aggressive. Ms Lewis alleged ‘It was his perception of how black people and particularly black women are’.
He pushed to have Ms Lewis – who was also a trade union representative – suspended, a move that led to disruptive protests outside the school and a social media campaign against Mr Fell.
The PE teacher was then sacked after the chair of governors concluded that her relationship with the school’s leadership team was irreparably broken.
She sued the school for race discrimination, claiming that Mr Fell had portrayed her as an ‘angry black woman’.
Louise Lewis, 40, sued her former school for unfair dismissal and has accused the headteacher, Andrew Fell, of racial discrimination
Louise Lewis suggested to head teacher Andrew Fell that he may have breached equality laws
And while that claim was dismissed, the tribunal did conclude she had been unfairly treated through her suspension and dismissal.
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Ms Lewis will now be awarded compensation. However, any damages she receives will be cut in half after the tribunal found she had played a part in the campaign against the school.
The Leeds hearing was told Ms Lewis, 40, worked at North Huddersfield Trust School in Yorkshire, ‘one of the most diverse schools in the north of England’. Mr Fell joined as head teacher at the start of the 2019 summer term.
In November that year the National Education Union (NEU) representative accidentally sent an email to all staff about part-time staff hours that Mr Fell felt was inaccurate.
Without Ms Lewis present, he told staff to disregard the message, a move that the tribunal heard led to a heated meeting between the pair the following week.
“(Ms Lewis) had written up some notes of points she wished to make to him, which included a definition of harassment in the workplace,” the tribunal said. “She accepted that, when she went to see Mr Fell, she was already upset.”
At the hearing the PE teacher claimed that when she complained, Mr Fell told her he was the head teacher and ‘could do as he wanted’, an accusation the head denied.
“(She) thus considered that her concerns were being dismissed,” the tribunal said. “(She) said it was then that she gave examples of harassment and went on to explain how he had made her feel.
Ms Lewis was fired from North Huddersfield Trust School after being suspended on October 2020 (file image)
“Massively affronted’ Mr Fell told the tribunal that Ms Lewis had accused him of bullying her and also raised ‘harassment’.
“He was shocked, he said, seeing her reaction as disproportionate and extreme,” the panel said. “He saw there to be some difference between being upset about the announcement and claiming that he was bullying and harassing her.”
Mr Fell then emailed his PA with an account of the meeting in which he described Ms Lewis’s attitude as ‘rather aggressive and accusatory’.
At the tribunal Ms Lewis claimed there were ‘racial connotations’ in his characterisation of her as aggressive.
“It was his perception of how black people and particularly black women are,” she said. “They are accused of being aggressive when they try to be assertive.”
His reference to black women as aggressive was stereotyping on his part, she claimed.
Mr Fell defended his reaction.
“I was being accused of something which goes to the core of my character,” he said. He added that he was unaware of any racial stereotype when he referred to Ms Lewis’s demeanour.
Ms Lewis claimed at the tribunal that following this meeting Mr Fell tried to ‘engineer’ her being disciplined.
The tribunal was told that in the first few months of 2020, a number of concerns were raised at the school that the PE teacher was not supervising pupils properly, that she had missed a parent’s evening and that she had failed to teach one of her classes.
Following these complaints, Mr Fell checked the school CCTV system for the dates concerned, the hearing was told.
The head teacher wrote to Ms Lewis on 20 April informing her that she would be required to attend a formal management meeting to discuss ‘concerns about her professional conduct’.
However, the closure of the school due to the Covid 19 pandemic meant the meeting was postponed until September.
During that time, the tribunal heard Mr Fell claimed her professional conduct had continued to cause ‘significant concerns throughout the period of lockdown and over the summer holiday’.
Among the accusations against her was a claim that she had ahead of the start of the new academic year she had warned that covid risk assessments at the school were not being followed.
She wrote back, claiming that he was refusing to give her evidence in advance to allow her to defend herself.
“I believe that this is preventing a fair process and is also a misuse of your position of power as Head Teacher,” she wrote.
“I am concerned that these accusations/allegations regarding my conduct are baseless and that this may be the reason that you are unwilling to substantiate each of them with any supporting evidence.
“As such, I vehemently disagree with the concerns raised and will be challenging them appropriately. I will also be seeking advice from an NEU Equality Officer.”
Mr Fell told the local council’s HR department that this letter meant Ms Lewis needed to be suspended and a full disciplinary process launched as there had been a ‘complete breakdown’ in her relationship with the school.
She was suspended in October and launched a grievance the same month. However, most of her complaints were rejected.
In December a protest took place outside the school claiming she had been suspended for carrying out legitimate trade union duties and victimised for standing up for health and safety.
A social media campaign also targeted Mr Fell and the school, the hearing was told, which the head described as a ‘character assassination’.
After being suspended for seven months, Ms Lewis’s disciplinary hearing took place in May 2021 and concluded that she should receive a written warning.
Mr Fell- who felt she should have been sanctioned more harshly – argued that she could not come back to work and that he would consider resigning if she did.
“Before the tribunal, Mr Fell referred to being accused of certain things going to the core of his character,” the tribunal said.
“He had been presented in the media as a racist and the school being institutionally racist in circumstances where the diversity of the school and community was incredibly important to him.
“As the head teacher of a diverse school, it was very damaging when those kinds of links were presented, he said.”
Subsequently, Philip Weston, chair of governors, agreed that Ms Lewis’s employment could not continue and in December 2021 she was fired.
The tribunal – chaired by Employment Judge Neil Maidment – rejected her argument that she had been the victim of race discrimination.
“There is no finding of individual or institutional racism or racial prejudice,” it said.
Of the ‘angry black woman’ claim, the panel said Mr Fell was not consciously or unconsciously stereotyping Ms Lewis.
“Perhaps close to the root of the difficulties in (Ms Lewis) and Mr Fell’s relationship was (her) at times naïve and unsubtle approach as a relatively newly appointed union representative when met with Mr Fell’s inexperience and sensitivity of being challenged in his relatively new head teacher role,” it said.
“In truth, both had a tendency to escalate and over formalise matters. Certainly, there is ample evidence of Mr Fell reacting badly to criticism.”
However, the tribunal did agree that she had been victimised and unfairly dismissed, concluding that Ms Lewis’s suggestion of discrimination had motivated him to argue for her suspension.
It said: “Mr Fell’s reaction was not permissible, but it arose out of him being indignant at being accused of discrimination in circumstances where he understood that to be a most serious allegation which caused him great personal hurt and in circumstances where he did not believe that there was any substance to the allegations.”
Ms Lewis was equally to blame for what happened to her, the tribunal found.
Ordering that her future compensation should be reduced by 50 per cent, the panel rejected her denial that she had nothing to do with the campaign to have her re-instated, concluding she had a ‘direct and active involvement’.
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