School unfairly fires teacher
The Martinuscollege in Grootebroek wrongfully fired a teacher in 2017 who had taken a number of leave days outside the school holidays. The school for vmbo, havo, atheneum and gymnasium has to pay more than a ton of damages to the teacher.
Image: Rechtspraak.nl
This is evident from one recent ruling of the court in Amsterdam. Earlier, the subdistrict court ruled in favor of the teacher, who taught management & organization and who had worked at the school since 1998.
Permission
In 2017, the teacher wanted to take a trip to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. She wanted to take leave a few days before the official May holiday would start and asked her supervisor for oral permission at the beginning of October 2016. According to the teacher, she received the necessary permission from her supervisor to take leave and booked her trip in October.
The school manager states that she never spoke to the teacher about her vacation. 'I'm sure a conversation with her didn't take place. I first heard of the vacation plans on April 11, 2017, very shortly before her departure, 'it says in the report.
I first heard of the vacation plans on April 11, 2017, very shortly before her departure
Letter of resignation
Martinus College sent the teacher on her first days of vacation a letter with the message that she was fired on the spot for not showing up for work. The school board is 'baffled' about this. 'The students were waiting for the scheduled lessons or exam training. As a teacher of an exam class, exam training is your responsibility, 'the school wrote in their letter. The school board announced during the sessions that it is not allowed to go on holiday during a regular teaching period, with a few exceptions.
Research
However, the judges find that it cannot be proven that the teacher was absent without the consent of the school. The board has made this insufficiently clear. The statements of the teacher and her supervisor are 'opposite each other', according to the judges. "The court has no reason to doubt the correctness of the teacher's consistency and detailed statement," the judges said. 'As the supervisor himself stated, it was busy that day, and the court considers it conceivable that the supervisor afterwards forgot that such a conversation took place.'
The court has no reason to doubt the correctness of the teacher's consistency and detailed statement
The judges blame the school for the fact that the school did not properly investigate the exact situation with the application, but immediately dismissed the teacher with immediate effect.
compensation
Due to the unjustified dismissal, the Marinus College must pay the teacher a fee of 80 euros and more than 20 euros in transition compensation. To the Noordhollands Dagblad the school has announced that it will comply with the decision of the court.
