A teacher who admitted helping pupils cheat in GCSE examinations has lost his claim that his dismissal should be classed as an act of discrimination under the equality act.
Former head of modern languages at Kenton School, Martin Scott, claimed that his impaired judgement, which ultimately led to his dismissal, came as a result of his poor mental health.
Having already made an unsuccessful attempt to appeal his dismissal to the Teaching Regulation Agency, in 2021, Mr Scott asked an employment tribunal to reconsider whether he was dismissed because of his depression and anxiety, whether the school trust could show that his dismissal was a proportionate response and whether it had made reasonable adjustments for him as a disabled person.
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The panel upheld the decision that Kenton Trust bosses were right to sack him, after what it perceived to be a "serious breach of teaching standards".
Mr Scott was first suspended after he and another teacher - Ms Conchi - handed pupils annotated exam 'cheat sheets' during their GCSE foreign language controlled assessments in 2016.
Ms Conchi, who was the head of the language in question, quit after being caught and, according to the tribunal papers, Mr Scott admitted to cheating but only after being pressured from bosses.
Following an internal probe, Mr Scott was sacked in July 2017 after several months of paid leave.
In 2018, an employment tribunal ruled the school had sacked him lawfully, however Mr Scott asked them to reconsider following an Employment Appeal Tribunal where the Judge found that they should consider afresh the Section 15 and Section 20 claims. This application for reconsideration was dated December 21, 2021.
In the most recent tribunal papers, it states that Mr Scott said: 'I do accept that my depression and anxiety had adversely impacted upon my performance at school. I was tired and anxious.
"I was lacking sleep. I lacked motivation. I felt overwhelmed. Ongoing scrutiny of the under performance process felt intense".
He went on to admit: "I was handed the script for the students, annotated by Conchi and told to hand them out, I did.
"I would go along with it. She was Head (of the language in question) and she was instructing me what to do. I was at risk of the capability process. I knew it was against exam board regulations
"I knew it was wrong. I did not feel able to stand up to her."
As part of the school's disciplinary procedure, Mr Scott obtained a psychiatric report which concludes he was disabled at the time, suffering from a mix of depression and anxiety.
The new employment tribunal panel concluded that Mr Scott had acted the way he did because his judgement was impaired, and that his impairment was because of his disability.
They confirmed that his dismissal therefore arose "because of something in consequence" of his disability.
However, the tribunal backed the Drayton Road School, and said they had a "legitimate aim" in dismissing Mr Scott: to uphold teaching standards.
Teaching standards require that educators act, for example, with honesty and integrity and demonstrate consistently high standards of personal and professional conduct.
The tribunal found that although the teacher expressed remorse, it would have had more strength had he "come forward earlier" and that the sanction sent a "clear message to other teachers".
A lesser sanction, such as a final written warning, was found not to "necessarily deter others from such behaviour".
The tribunal was satisfied that the claimant was not "put at a substantial disadvantage compared with a non-disabled person" and that it was "not a reasonable adjustment to impose a final written warning."
Kenton School Trust has been contacted for a comment.
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