Tribunal Finds School Discriminated Against Male Teacher

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An employment tribunal has ruled that a private school in West London discriminated against a male teacher because of his sex. He was dismissed after he asked to keep flexible hours for childcare, while women on staff kept theirs.

How the judge reached the finding

The claim was direct sex discrimination: a worker is treated worse than someone else because of a protected trait. To test it, a tribunal looks at comparators, people in a similar position of the other sex, real or imagined.

Several real female comparators had been allowed to arrive late or leave early, one of them with no childcare duties. For a hypothetical woman in the teacher's place, the judge found, flexible working would have gone ahead without sanction or enforcement of contractual hours. Only Frederick Lechmere-Smith got a written demand to keep the 8am to 6pm day. The judge ruled his claim well founded.

The contract against the conversations

Lechmere-Smith was director of studies at Kensington Park School from September 2023 to January 2024. His contract set the day at 8am to 6pm. At recruitment he warned the then headmaster that childcare would make this hard.

The school's line was that he never made a formal flexible working request and was bound by what he signed. It accepted that he had raised the subject with the headmaster who hired him, but said he never agreed to change the contractual hours.

The judge agreed that talks before signing were not legally binding here. But the way both sides behaved afterwards showed an agreed degree of flexibility.

What the school said about his work

The school also pointed to concerns about his responsiveness to emails, his handling of timetabling and his dealings with colleagues. It said his performance did not improve once these were discussed with him.

The tribunal was shown a message from the headmaster who recruited him. It said his personal circumstances could be accommodated if the relevant work was completed. It also heard that he stepped in when a consultant failed to produce a timetable, and again when a colleague went on early maternity leave and her post could not immediately be filled.

On the day of his probation meeting in December 2023 he was handed a £100 John Lewis voucher, on top of the £50 voucher every member of staff received. Employment Judge Green said "performance was not the operative reason for his dismissal". The judge read the vouchers as genuine appreciation of his work.

From assurance to dismissal

He was told the hours were "not rigid" and would be applied flexibly in his case, so he took the job. In the autumn term he worked very long hours at school and at home, with some leeway on timing. He told the tribunal that female colleagues, including some senior leaders, were also permitted to work flexibly or leave early.

Then the headmaster was suspended and an acting head took over. On 11 January 2024 the acting head restated his contractual hours. From 19 February he was expected in from 8am to 6pm and at every evening event.

Lechmere-Smith said this put him in an impossible position because of his childcare. He tried to challenge the letter and got no answer. On 24 January he was dismissed with immediate effect and pay in lieu of notice, the stated reason being a failed probation. No performance concerns had been raised with him, and female staff were still permitted to work flexibly without sanction.

Kensington Park School entered voluntary liquidation in August 2026 and no longer operates.

Our view

The tribunal's reasoning shows that what an employer does after signing can weigh as much as what the contract says. The report does not say what remedy was ordered. With the school in liquidation, it is also unclear whether any award could be collected.

Source: Personnel Today