A High Court judge has warned an internal appeal into a retired teacher’s claims of bullying by her school principal must proceed by the end of this month or else her High Court action for damages will resume.
The case by Bridget Sweeney (54), who worked as a resource and home-schooling teacher at Ballinteer Community School in Dublin, was adjourned last May after Mr Justice Daniel Herbert directed an internal inquiry into the bullying accusations should first be set up by the school board of management.
In her court action, Ms Sweeney, Beaver Row, Donnybrook, Dublin, claimed she had to retire from her €70,000 a year post on a €32,000 per annum pension because of alleged harassment. She also claimed the principal, Dr Austin Corcorcan, hired a private investigator to follow her.
The school denied the claims and said a “fair and unbiased” investigation into her complaints by a barrister had found there was no bullying.
Ms Sweeney claimed she was subjected to harassment and intimidation by Dr Corcoran who, she alleged, engaged in a “pattern of behaviour designed to block me from doing my job.” She also claimed she was consistently overlooked for a post of responsibility or promotion for which she was qualified.
Her health had been affected, she was on anti-depression medication and her life had been completely changed, she said.
The case ran in the High Court for a number of days last year.
On May 25th last, Mr Justice Herbert said he would be bound by the findings of the barrister’s report that there was no bullying but would also have regard to the findings of a new internal appeals forum which should be set up by the school as soon as possible.
When the case came back before Mr Justice Herbert today, counsel for Ms Sweeney asked the judge to fix a date for the resumption of the High Court hearing because no internal appeals hearing had yet taken place.
Counsel for the board of management said, while there had been disagreement between the parties over the composition of the appeals forum and over the procedures to be adopted, the board was now in a position to expedite the hearing by the appeals forum.
Mr Justice Herbert said he was extremely concerned at the delay. He could not allow the matter to “drag on indefinitely” and the time would have to come when he might decide the procedures available had failed Ms Sweeney and resume the High Court hearing.
With that “salutary warning”, the judge said, he wanted to appeals forum to proceed by the end of this month.