A teacher at a £17,000-a-year private Steiner school has won an unfair dismissal case after being sacked for allowing pupils to remove their face masks during the Covid pandemic.
Henry Howlett, who worked at Michael Hall School in Forest Row, East Sussex, was fired for gross misconduct following a school talent show in 2020 where he told students they could remove masks if they felt anxious or uncomfortable.
The tribunal ruled his dismissal was a dishonest attempt by the struggling school to save money. During the October 2021 talent show, attendees were required to stay in their class "bubbles" and wear masks due to Covid restrictions.
The school's principal, Paul Farr, had sent an email stating that students who could not wear face coverings due to physical reasons or if they caused distress would be exempt.
Howlett was fired for gross misconduct following a school talent show in 2020
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When many of Howlett's students appeared without masks during the show, he explained they felt restricted by them.
This sparked outrage among colleagues, leading to a fact-finding meeting where Howlett dismissed the matter as "neither urgent nor safeguarding issue."
The tribunal heard that earlier in October, Howlett had arranged an educational trip to Battle Abbey in East Sussex, the site of the Battle of Hastings.
The school had recently introduced a new system for parental consent forms, which was described as "unreliable". Four students were found to lack up-to-date consent forms days before the trip.
Despite this, Howlett proceeded with the trip after receiving an email from a senior leadership team member telling him to "have a wonderful trip", which he interpreted as approval.
The teacher did not have direct access to the consent form system to check the status himself.
The school trip took place in Battle Abbey in East Sussex
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Employment Judge Denis Harley ruled that Howlett's dismissal was "a dishonest and opportunistic enterprise" that did not reflect the school's ethos.
"This dismissal represented a net saving in cash terms, at a time when the school was actively trying to save money," the judge said.
The tribunal found that the Battle Abbey trip incident was used as a "bolt-on" to the mask issue to justify dismissing a staff member who was unpopular with management.
The judge concluded this was not simply an unfair process or inept investigation, but rather a calculated attempt to remove the teacher.
The tribunal highlighted how the dismissal impacted students whose parents had paid specifically for Steiner education, which emphasises continuous teacher support.
"Their parents had paid for Steiner education, an important aspect of which was the ongoing support and development achieved from having the same teacher for a sustained period," the judge noted.
The pupils were not given a chance to say goodbye to their teacher, which the tribunal ruled no reasonable school management would have allowed.
Howlett, who had worked at the school since 2015, will receive compensation at a later date.
