A schoolteacher at an Islamic school who was ‘absurdly’ sacked for yelling at misbehaving students has won $56,000 in compensation from the Fair Work Commission.
Commissioner Stephen Crawford found that Paramjit Brownson, a Year 9 teacher at the Australian International Islamic College at Durack in Brisbane, was unfairly dismissed last June and ordered the school to reinstate her.
Nevertheless, the college successfully challenged the ruling, and Commissioner Crawford returned it for a new hearing.
His reconsideration of the matter again ruled in favour of the dismissed teacher and said the true cause of her dismissal was not how she addressed students but a falling out with the college director over his treatment of another teacher.
The Commission ruled that she was unlikely to get fair treatment if she was reinstated, so it awarded her the maximum compensation.
Commissioner Crawford said the school dismissed the teacher in December 2023, for yelling at students that were misbehaving.
‘I consider it is absurd to suggest that a high school teacher can be found to have committed serious misconduct simply because they have raised their voice towards misbehaving students,’ he said.
‘There is already a well-documented shortage of schoolteachers in Australia [and] that problem will only be exacerbated if schools rush to dismiss competent and experienced teachers simply because some students complain about being spoken to in a raised voice when they have been misbehaving.
‘Teachers such as (her) must also protect the interests of the students that are being negatively impacted by misbehaving students.
‘I have no doubt that parents expect teachers to take strong action when students are engaging in conduct such as bullying or repeatedly disrupting class to an extent where the learning outcomes for other students are affected.’
The Commission heard evidence from a student that the teacher was not the only member of staff who raised their voice toward students and that numerous others did so much more frequently.
‘Student A’s evidence completely undermines the college’s position that yelling at misbehaving students is serious misconduct justifying dismissal,’ he said.
Commissioner Crawford discovered that the teacher’s dismissal was motivated by antagonism between her and college director Mohamed Azhari, driven by her criticisms about the way he had treated another staff member.
The director admitted communicating in a ‘very aggressive and inappropriate manner’ to another female teacher at a college event in November 2023.
The discussion took place in front of parents, employees, and students during a Jalsa event honouring Islamic culture and tradition.
The director apologised to the teacher at a subsequent meeting, at which the soon-to-be-dismissed teacher served as a support person.
After that, the teacher issued a thorough email to the director, the worried teacher, the principle, the deputy, and other staff members detailing the events that transpired at the event.
‘I find that (her) email upset (the director) and triggered the contrived and flawed subsequent sequence of events that led to (her) dismissal.’
Commissioner Crawford said he could see no other explanation as to why the college had shifted so dramatically from initially supporting her in disciplinary actions towards students to later raising various historical allegations against her and sacking her.
‘I am satisfied that the dismissal of Ms Brownson was unjust and unreasonable,’ Commissioner Crawford ruled.
‘There was not a valid reason for Ms Brownson’s dismissal relating to her conduct or capacity. Ms Brownson was unfairly targeted by Mr Azhari for vindictive personal reasons.’
Finding no valid reason to dismiss the teacher, Commissioner Crawford said ordinarily he would rule the teacher be reinstated but in this case that was not practical due to the breakdown in the relationship between Ms Brownson and Mr Azhari.
‘Although concerns about the conduct of the employer should not ordinarily weigh against reinstatement because it is effectively rewarding bad behaviour, I consider this is quite an extreme case,’ he said.
‘(The director) has demonstrated he is prepared to act inappropriately to achieve his objectives.’
Commissioner Crawford found the teacher would have remained employed for an additional five years if she had not been dismissed and awarded her full settlement of $55,786.90 plus superannuation.
Bravo to this educator. A well-earned kick in the derriere is appropriate for misbehaving children, but of course, we mustn’t upset our future misogynists – this is why a lot of youngsters have no respect and they don’t fear authority anymore.
What this story highlights, and many others as well, is that these teenagers have turned into thugs who have absolutely no respect for anyone, and the government enables this behaviour. These teenagers are utterly disrespectful to their teachers and society alike, but if they get called out by their teachers and society, they are labelled, not them.
These woke teenagers would never have survived in my school days with teachers going red in the face screaming, rulers slapped over your hands and chalk and blackboard rubbers being thrown at students. Never did us any harm, at least we had respect for our elders.
Disobedient students should not be permitted to disrupt the classroom because you can’t teach these feral kids without discipline.
THE MONTHLY MOSQUITO 