Teacher sexually assaulted by pupil awarded compensation

A teacher who felt let down by her school after she was sexually assaulted by a pupil has been awarded £52,000 compensation.

The teacher, identified only as Ms C at the Employment Tribunal hearing, taught pupils with learning difficulties at Warren School in Suffolk.

In 2016, Ms C was providing deep tissue pressure therapy to a 17-year-old pupil when he put his hand up her dress and “flapped” it against her vagina. She told him to stop but he slapped her several times on the arm.

She hurried away but he ran after her and pushed himself into her back.

Ms C felt traumatised by the incident and by the reaction of management at the school. When she reported the incident, neither the school nor Suffolk County Council felt it should be classified as a sexual assault. She was also upset by the Head Teacher’s remark that it was “part of the job to deal with challenging behaviour”.

Another colleague suggested she had brought the incident on herself by using deep tissue pressure therapy. She was left feeling that the incident had been her fault because she had acted inappropriately.

Ms C felt she could not continue at the school. She resigned and brought claims of indirect sex discrimination and constructive unfair dismissal.

The Employment Tribunal found in her favour and awarded her a total of £52,493 compensation.

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