Teacher in maternity row to get €10,000

A SCHOOL which refused to allow a teacher cancel her application for a career break when she discovered she was pregnant has been ordered to pay her €10,000.

Colleen Harrington, a teacher at Scoil Chríost Rí in Limerick since 1993, applied for a career break in May 2002 and her application was approved by the school. However, on discovering she was pregnant in July 2002, she sought to withdraw her application.

Ms Harrington claims she wrote to the Board of Management outlining her request and proposing to take unpaid leave from the beginning of the school year up to the start of maternity leave. She said this would make it easier for the school to find a temporary replacement for the school year and minimise the disruption to her class.

However, the chairperson wrote to her saying “considering the difficulties which would ensue under this change of situation” her request to withdraw her career break application could not be accommodated.

The letter said an advertisement had been placed in a national newspaper seeking a replacement for the duration of her intended career break, 62 applications had been received and an interview board had been set up.

Ms Harrington said she rang both the chairperson and the Principal seeking to appeal the Board’s decision but neither were prepared to discuss the matter. Ms Harrington claims the sole reason her request to defer her career break was turned down was due to her pregnancy and entitlement to maternity leave.

Ms Harrington, represented by the primary school teacher’s union the INTO, made a complaint to the Equality Tribunal against the school and against the Department of Education for its role of approving Board of Management decisions in relation to career breaks.

However, the Department said the authorisation and management of career breaks is a matter for the Board of Management of schools.

The equality officer who investigated the case, Raymund Walsh, said there was no evidence of discriminatory treatment by the Department. However he found the school’s reasons for refusing withdrawal of the career break application “stemmed directly from the complainant’s pregnancy.”

The Board of Management of Scoil Chríost Rí was ordered to pay Ms Harrington the amount of remuneration she would have received in respect of paid maternity leave had her career break application been deferred; to compensate her €10,000 for the distress suffered as a result of the discriminatory treatment and to restore to her one year’s career break entitlement.

Yesterday Ms Harrington said she was grateful for the INTO’s support. Currently on career break, she said she was looking forward to returning to school.

INTO general secretary John Carr said it was the second case related to pregnancy in recent times that the INTO had won on behalf of primary teachers.