Legal Advice: Missed opportunity
Vague complaints from parents can damage a teacher's reputation. Especially if the employer does not handle it correctly.
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Cora has been working with great pleasure as a history teacher at a large comprehensive school for a few years now. She loves working with young adults and sharing her passion for the profession. The students are not insensitive to her enthusiasm and walk away with her.
A success story? Not quite. A parent of a student files a complaint. The parent concerned is known at the school. It is not the first complaint this mother makes about a teacher. In the first instance, Cora does not even bother to contact the AOb. The complaint is so vague and unjustified that she expects that it will soon be declared unfounded by her employer.
Unfounded
However, Cora's expectation does not come true. For unclear reasons, the employer chooses not to follow its own complaints procedure. There is no formal handling of the complaint. The employer therefore does not investigate the complaint but arranges conversations between Cora and the mother. This does not solve anything. The mother can hardly substantiate her complaint and relies on "statements of hearsay." Cora is convinced that the complaint is unfounded and wants the employer to make a clear judgment. However, the employer fails to do so and the issue drags on. In the meantime, the entire procedure is starting to put a heavy burden on Cora's job satisfaction. She does not feel supported by her employer and contacts the legal service of the AOb.
The mother can hardly substantiate her complaint and relies on “hearsay statements
The practitioner of the AOb urges the employer to formalize the complaint. In the meantime, he has maneuvered himself into a position that a correct assessment of the complaint is no longer feasible. The fickle mother no longer values further treatment. And the relevant student is now in a different class.
Affected
The employer wants to close the whole matter with a concluding conversation. Cora is not satisfied with that. She feels that her reputation is affected and does not want this issue to affect her in the future. On behalf of Cora, the practitioner requests the AOb for a written statement from the employer that she cannot be blamed for anything. After some insistence, the employer complies with that request. With the final text, provided by the practitioner of the AOb is checked and supplemented, Cora and the employer are satisfied. But unfortunately without the conclusion that Cora cannot be blamed or that there is no evidence of culpable behavior. Because, the employer explains, “after all, he was not there himself and therefore cannot take a position on it”. With this, the employer is hiding in a bit of a weak way behind his own failure to conduct an adequate investigation and apparently does not want to stand behind his own staff. A missed opportunity.
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