This equality lark gets confusing

Bonkers Britain from the Pink News:

A straight Scottish teacher who tried to make a claim for homophobic harassment has lost his case.

This is clear discrimination!

James Campbell, who took early retirement in 2007 from his job as an art teacher at Denny High School in Scotland, claimed that the homophobic insults he received amount to sexual orientation discrimination, despite being straight.

But a tribunal in Glasgow rejected his claim that Falkirk council was responsible for the pupils’ behaviour. Campbell had attempted to claim they were “employees” of the council, STV reports.

No, being employed would suggest they actually did something! Bullying doesn’t count as a qualification unless you’re applying for a job with TV Licensing.

The married teacher claimed that pupils called him”perv”, “gay”, “poof”, and “weirdo”, and that he no longer felt able to teach because of the abuse he had endured.

It sounds to me like he isn’t up to the job, period. I can sympathise. I’m sure we all had teachers who didn’t have the natural ability required to work successfully with children.

He also accused the school of failing to address his complaints.

It reminds me of the old joke where Jimmy says to his mum, “I don’t want to go to school today because all the kids bully me” and his mum replies, “for goodness sake, you’re their teacher”.

Employment judge Robert Gall said: “The tribunal was satisfied that after applying tests to the status of pupils they were not employees.

They had to apply tests?

“Unruly pupils and disciplinary issues are such that it is impossible to eradicate them altogether.”

So there’s no point even trying?

He added that the school had taken steps to try and prevent the harassment.

Like?

Campbell had brought a previous disability claim to tribunal after arguing that jibes about his baldness had forced him to take early retirement. This case was lost on the grounds that baldness did not constitute a disability.

Bonkers. Just bonkers.

2 comments to This equality lark gets confusing

  • Richard Borrett

    Yet again, making something out of nothing here… beginning to read worryingly like the Daily Mail.

    As is perfectly clear, a man made a quite ridiculous claim for homophobic harrasment by ‘employees’ (children), when he is openly straight and married.

    This is clearly quite wrong, and is dismissed as such by the tribunal. Where is the problem? Had he won this case i would understand your post, but as it is there is nothing happening here other than an individual exercising his right to bring silly claims to tribunals and the court rightly throwing it out.

  • Stewart Cowan

    I thought it was interesting. And quite amusing how he also tried to claim baldness was a disability.

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