OH complaint against Headmaster
Discussion
Hi All,
Without going into specifics my OH has been on the receiving end of a "bad" reference from her Headmaster at the prep school at which she works. Effectively a previous reference about 18 months ago was good / v.positive, but the more recent ones have been very average and actually contradict the previous reference.
She was wanting to see what could be done, potentially a complaint or maybe even going a legal route. Are there any Employment law types on here who wouldn't mind having a quick chat with her to see what options she has (if any)? Failing that could anyone give any recommendations on a decent employment law person / company that she could get in contact with?
Many thanks,
Steven
Without going into specifics my OH has been on the receiving end of a "bad" reference from her Headmaster at the prep school at which she works. Effectively a previous reference about 18 months ago was good / v.positive, but the more recent ones have been very average and actually contradict the previous reference.
She was wanting to see what could be done, potentially a complaint or maybe even going a legal route. Are there any Employment law types on here who wouldn't mind having a quick chat with her to see what options she has (if any)? Failing that could anyone give any recommendations on a decent employment law person / company that she could get in contact with?
Many thanks,
Steven
Indeed, however the contradiction is around things like subject knowledge - which would be hard to "deteriorate", especially as she is a language teacher and a native speaker. Also around things like relationship / rapport with students for which she got a very positive comment on at a lesson observation (by her line manager) 6 months ago.
No, she's been looking for jobs and had a few interviews but didn't get any further - so she asked for a copy of the references sent (which she received) - 1 was good/v.good (earlier reference) and the other 2 were "bad" or at least very average and contradictory of the earlier ref. The performance review was conducted by her line manager (not the head) back in November and was v.positive and mentioned explicitly that her rapport with the students was excellent - whereas within the more current references this aspect was graded as "satisfactory".
She's actually got a new job now, and the prospective employers are fine with the "bad" reference. In this instance there are a number of other people with poor experiences of the Head - abusive language to one teacher, alledged bullying / harassment of another - basically she doesn't want him to "get away" with treating her / others poorly, or attempting to affect their future employment prospects.
I do take people's points about not going down a legal route / throwing money at lawyers - hence me asking if their was a "friendly" forum person who might be able to give a little advice and suggest if it was worth the effort in taking further...
I do take people's points about not going down a legal route / throwing money at lawyers - hence me asking if their was a "friendly" forum person who might be able to give a little advice and suggest if it was worth the effort in taking further...
tallstevef said:
She's actually got a new job now, and the prospective employers are fine with the "bad" reference. In this instance there are a number of other people with poor experiences of the Head - abusive language to one teacher, alledged bullying / harassment of another - basically she doesn't want him to "get away" with treating her / others poorly, or attempting to affect their future employment prospects.
I do take people's points about not going down a legal route / throwing money at lawyers - hence me asking if their was a "friendly" forum person who might be able to give a little advice and suggest if it was worth the effort in taking further...
What is the outcome you are looking for ? I do take people's points about not going down a legal route / throwing money at lawyers - hence me asking if their was a "friendly" forum person who might be able to give a little advice and suggest if it was worth the effort in taking further...
It maybe very difficult to get any real evidence or proof that the reference wasn't fair comment. It will always be open to interpretation, some examples maybe given - which support the reference.
GT03ROB said:
If the worst her reference says is satisfactory then I'm not sure where you can go with this.
That might depend on what is customary for in this line of work. If the usual reference is quite a bit better than 'satisfactory' then being damned with faint praise might well amount to just that.Remembering a long ago conversation with my marine engineer brother I'm sure he said that a 'satisfactory' comment in his paying off book was the equivalent of a bad reference.
singlecoil said:
GT03ROB said:
If the worst her reference says is satisfactory then I'm not sure where you can go with this.
That might depend on what is customary for in this line of work. If the usual reference is quite a bit better than 'satisfactory' then being damned with faint praise might well amount to just that.Remembering a long ago conversation with my marine engineer brother I'm sure he said that a 'satisfactory' comment in his paying off book was the equivalent of a bad reference.
With regards to what outcome she's looking for, I genuinely don't know - she was quite upset by the references, and the "marking down" of her subject knowledge and rapport with the kids. I get the sense that she wants to "not let him get away" with this, and to make a bit of an example of him, or at least make his employers question his actions / investigate this / other claims seriously. As one of the other posters mentioned, in the teaching trade (apparently!) the "satisfactory" rating without any qualification or explanation is / can be damaging (for a prospective employers point of view).
tallstevef said:
She's actually got a new job now, and the prospective employers are fine with the "bad" reference. In this instance there are a number of other people with poor experiences of the Head - abusive language to one teacher, alledged bullying / harassment of another - basically she doesn't want him to "get away" with treating her / others poorly, or attempting to affect their future employment prospects.
I do take people's points about not going down a legal route / throwing money at lawyers - hence me asking if their was a "friendly" forum person who might be able to give a little advice and suggest if it was worth the effort in taking further...
I am not friendly, but can give advice:-:I do take people's points about not going down a legal route / throwing money at lawyers - hence me asking if their was a "friendly" forum person who might be able to give a little advice and suggest if it was worth the effort in taking further...
(1) The reference would only be actionable if maliciously false or carelessly false.
(2) There would be no claim without evidence of loss.
Your partner has a new job. She has no claim.
Edited by anonymous-user on Wednesday 31st May 07:59
tallstevef said:
Wacky Racer said:
I would just move on.
She has another job, her new employers aren't bothered, forget it.
That's what I would do - but since when do OH's listen to reason?!? She has another job, her new employers aren't bothered, forget it.
This is her trying to make you prove it!
Breadvan72 said:
I am not friendly, but can give advice:-:
(1) The reference would only be actionable if maliciously false or carelessly false.
(2) There would be no claim without evidence of loss.
Your partner has a new job. She has no claim.
Breadvan has spoken! (1) The reference would only be actionable if maliciously false or carelessly false.
(2) There would be no claim without evidence of loss.
Your partner has a new job. She has no claim.
Edited by Breadvan72 on Wednesday 31st May 07:59
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