Male Northolt Teaching Assistant Wins Sexual Harassment Case
Belvue School headteacher's comments were deemed inappropriate
The tribunal accepted that Shelagh O'Shea's comments were 'jokey' and intended to be complimentary
April 4, 2024
An employment tribunal has awarded over £9,000 to a former teaching assistant at a special school in Northolt after finding that comments by the head teacher were inappropriate.
Nikoloz Papashvili had claimed that he had been sexually harassed at Belvue High School , which caters for pupils aged between 11 and 19, by Shelagh O’Shea.
He said that remarks that she made including when she said that he looks ‘fit’ in his speedos amounted to a pattern of ‘unwanted sexual advances’ in seven incidents between 2017 and 2019.
He claimed that he had been mocked by other staff at the school over the headteacher’s innuendos and that she signed off emails to him with a kiss. The school’s caretaker gave evidence to the tribunal that Mr Papashvili had been teased as a result of the remarks.
The school was in the process of dismissing Mr Papashvili for gross misconduct for falsely claiming he had Covid 19 so that he could go on holiday in Croatia in July 2020. He said that the investigation that resulted in his sacking had been ‘profoundly unfair’ but did not make any claims against the head teacher until after he had been fired later in the year.
Judge Gary Tobin who chaired the tribunal concluded that, although Mr Papashvili had been shown to be dishonest and the level of the award would have been far greater otherwise, comments by senior female staff to younger male staff should receive the same level of scrutiny in cases where the roles were reversed and inappropriate comments made by senior women to younger men had “no place in the modern workplace”.
It was accepted that Ms O’Shea felt she was being complimentary and that her comments were intended to be jokey or risqué but that her ‘juvenile insinuations’ reflected badly on her. Judge Tobin added, “Language and attitudes to colleagues change over time, and comments that might have been prevalent and acceptable in a workplace 30 or 40 years ago are no longer justifiable or tolerated”.
The tribunal agreed that the investigation into Mr Papashvili’s absence had been prejudged as reached the conclusion that his behaviour was unacceptable before it had concluded.
The tribunal also ruled that a previous anonymity order preventing the school and the head teacher being named should be revoked.
We have asked Belvue High School for a comment.
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