Teacher who called pupils ‘chattering monkeys’ loses dismissal claim

A teacher who was sacked after describing her pupils as ‘chattering monkeys’ has lost a claim for unfair dismissal against her former school.

Charlotte Moore taught a year 6 class at Trinity St Mary’s Primary School in Chelmsford. She was investigated by police after parents complained that her remark was “very racist” and constituted a hate crime.

The school launched a disciplinary investigation and Moore was later sacked for gross misconduct.

Moore took the school to tribunal, claiming that the allegations against her were “malicious and untrue”, and that the investigation procedure had been defective.

She claimed that there had been insufficient investigation carried out into her conduct, meaning there had been a lack of reasonable grounds to dismiss her on this basis.

Moore also told the tribunal that the investigating officer had been biased in their approach, that they had relied extensively on anonymous witness statements, and that she had not been informed about all aspects of the allegations for which she was suspended.

“The role played by HR had too great an influence on the outcomes of the disciplinary procedure,” her submission added.

Alongside the monkeys comment, the tribunal heard that Moore had “told the class that they are getting on her nerves so much she wants to shoot herself or them”.

The police closed their investigation after concluding they were satisfied that the “chattering monkeys” comment had been used for the entire class and should not be considered a racial slur in this context.

However, around half of the 30 children in Moore’s class were interviewed about a number of allegations, and concerns were repeated by a number of them. These included reports of her grabbing a pupil by the back of their neck and shaking another while holding their collar.

Moore told the tribunal that she often made “overly dramatic statements” to pupils in a joking way.

Employment Judge Suzanne Palmer said in judgment: “I do not consider that the role played by HR in this case fell outside a reasonable procedure”, adding that there was no evidence to suggest that HR sought to influence the panel’s decision.

The way the investigation was conducted – while there were some flaws – was considered to be fair and the decision to dismiss her “fell within the range of what was reasonable in the circumstances”, Judge Palmer added, dismissing the claim.

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