Primary teacher awarded £100K for unfair dismissal after being accused of assaulting her own son

In Ms M-G v Arbor Academy Trust, a primary school headteacher was awarded £100,000 after being unfairly dismissed for allegedly assaulting her toddler by tapping his hand. The tribunal found no evidence of assault and ruled the dismissal as gross misconduct was unjustified.

In the case of Ms M-G v Arbor Academy Trust a primary school headteacher has been awarded £100,000 after being dismissed and accused of assault for tapping her own toddler’s hand.

Ms M-G wanted her three-year-old son to stop playing with a bottle of hand sanitiser. During this incident, which occurred in front of the teacher responsible for child safety, she made contact with her son. An employment tribunal heard that the safety officer filed a complaint, leading to the headteacher’s suspension and police involvement.

The police determined that Ms M-G ‘s actions constituted “reasonable chastisement” by a parent. Despite this, the 46-year-old was dismissed for gross misconduct. As head of Northwold Primary School in Hackney, part of Arbor Academy Trust, she took her case to an employment court, resulting in significant compensation. The court ruled there was no evidence of “physical chastisement or assault” and declared her dismissal unfair, awarding her £102,328.

Employment Judge Julia Jones stated, “I find it likely that she bent down to his level to speak to him about why he should not be playing with hand sanitiser. When he turned away, she tapped him with two fingers on the back of his hand to get his attention.”

Despite her dismissal in May 2022 for gross misconduct, the tribunal ruled in her favour: “It is this Tribunal’s judgement that [the Trust] had sufficient evidence that she was trying to prevent injury to her child and address his behaviour. There was no evidence that she had committed physical chastisement or an assault.”

Read more

Latest News

Read More

10 Essential Strategies for Leaders Handling Redundancy Announcements

26 July 2025

Future of HR

26 July 2025

Despite flexible policies, nearly 4 in 10 still feel guilty being offline...

Management

25 July 2025

It’s better for everyone if employees use their initiative. Better for line managers who are not dragged into micro managing. Better for the individual who...

Newsletter

Receive the latest HR news and strategic content

Please note, as per the GDPR Legislation, we need to ensure you are ‘Opted In’ to receive updates from ‘theHRDIRECTOR’. We will NEVER sell, rent, share or give away your data to third parties. We only use it to send information about our products and updates within the HR space To see our Privacy Policy – click here

Latest HR Jobs

Natural Environment Research Council – NERC – Research and Skill Directorate (Discovery Team)Salary: £36,650 per annum. UKRI Band D This provides summary information and comment

Scholars School SystemSalary: £45,000 to £50,000 This provides summary information and comment on the subject areas covered. Where employment tribunal and appellate court cases are

University of Sussex – Human Resources Salary: £25,733 to £29,179. Grade 4, per annum, pro rata if part time This provides summary information and comment

University of CambridgeSalary: £12,109 pa (based on FTE £28,381pa) plus pension and benefits This provides summary information and comment on the subject areas covered. Where

Read the latest digital issue of theHRDIRECTOR for FREE

Read the latest digital issue of theHRDIRECTOR for FREE