UK Edition
Jewish teacher wins tribunal after she was sacked for living with her boyfriend
A Jewish teacher has won a tribunal after she was sacked for living with her boyfriend outside of wedlock.
Zelda de Groen, 24, who was accused of living in sin by school leaders at the ultra-orthadox nursery where she worked, won her case of religious and sexual discrimination.
She said she was subjected to a “humiliating” interview by her bosses who probed her private life and told that she should be married, adding that having children outside of marriage would “not be tolerated” in her workplace.
Ms de Groen was pulled out of classes for an hour long dressing down after some parents at the Gan Menachem nursery in Hendon, north London complained about her living with her boyfriend Oz Waknin.
She said that she was initially advised by the headteacher Miriam Lieberman and nursery manager Dina Toron to lie to parents and deny she was cohabiting outside of wedlock. But when she asked for an apology about her treatment two days later she was disciplined and sacked.
Ms de Groen, who has since married Mr Waknin, successfully sued the nursery for direct and indirect religious discrimination, direct sex discrimination and harassment.
In their ruling, the tribunal panel said: "She was dealing with senior managers who were behaving rather like an overbearing mother and elder sister. The effect was undoubtedly humiliating, degrading and offensive. "The claimant was distraught during and after the meeting and reasonably so.
She was being probed about her private life in ways which suggested that she was behaving badly and foolishly. "The conduct of the respondent after that meeting was equally offensive and hurtful to the claimant and continued her humiliation and degradation."
Following a disciplinary procedure she was sacked about a month later for bringing the nursery into disrepute, Watford Employment Tribunal heard.
Ms de Groen was brought up in an orthodox Jewish household until she was 16 when she moved to Israel. By the time she returned to the UK three years later, she had rejected the orthodox lifestyle.
The tribunal ruled: "It is repugnant to generally accepted standards of morality to require someone to lie, especially about matters so concerned with their protected human rights."
They found that the nursery schools failure to provide a satisfactory explanation for “encouraging the claimant to lie (a breach of a fundamental tenet of Judaism) in order to cover up her breach of what was (according to the respondent) a further fundamental tenet of Judaism was explored.”
They concluded that a male teacher would not have been treated in such a way and that the root of the problem was interpretation of their religion.
Jahad Rahman, a partner at Rahman Lowe Solicitors and specialist in employment law, said the case will have ramifications for other faith schools.
“There are wide implications for not just the orthodox Jewish community but for orthodox Catholic or Muslim schools too,” he said. “I think it will serve as a warning to others, and reinforce the message of the equality act.”
Rabbi Dr Jonathan Romain, chair of the Accord Coalition for inclusive education, said the case will send a strong signal to all faith schools.
He said the ruling shows that schools “cannot let theology take precedence over education or legislation, and that their employment practice cannot breach laws against discrimination.”
“Teachers can uphold a school's ethos without being forced to abandon their right to a private life. It is also unhelpful to provide school-chidlren with a blinkered view that isolates them from the rest of society.”
He added: “In this particular case, it is extraordinary that a school should judge a person not on their teaching ability, but on a personal relationship outside the classroom that is perfectly legal. Marriage may be admired by the school, but it is not a condition of employment.”