Private teacher loses case over ‘little bitch’ remark to pupil

A teacher at a south Dublin private fee-paying school has lost his High Court case over how it dealt with a complaint alleging he called a male student a “little bitch”.

Mr Justice Michael Twomey ruled Pierce Dillon was not entitled to judicial review against Catholic University School for reasons including a final written warning issued to the teacher had expired, there was no record of it on his personnel file and because scarce court time should not be allocated to small matters.

Mr Dillon, aged 55, sought judicial review of the formal procedure adopted by CUS in dealing with a complaint by the boy’s parents over events on May 8/9, 2014.

The teenager claimed, after he was late on May 8, 2014, for Mr Dillon’s class due to talking to another teacher, Mr Dillon told him he was continually disrupting the class, always moaning and was a “little bitch”.

After the complaint was substantiated, a meeting was held on March 27, 2015, to discuss disciplinary action, leading to a final written warning being issued to Mr Dillon in April 2015.

Mr Justice Twomey, in a summary of his judgment, said

he was not being personally critical of Mr Dillon but other factors, apart from the teacher’s subjective belief he should not have been sanctioned, had to be considered by the court. Having done so, he believed this case did not involve an appropriate use of public resources.

Costs issues will be addressed next week.