Primary school teacher who took off deaf child’s socks and shoes reinstated after court appeal

A primary school teacher who took the socks and shoes off a profoundly deaf and developmentally delayed student has won a court battle to overturn her termination. Find out why.

A primary school teacher who was sacked for removing the socks and shoes of a deaf and developmentally-delayed child has won her career back after taking the Education Department to court.

The teacher, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, took the Department of Education to the Industrial Relations Commission to fight her dismissal after being fired over multiple allegations of mistreatment of students with special needs.

Her appeal was successful, with Commissioner Janine Webster finding three of the four claims – that the teacher dragged a deaf child out of a canteen line by the wrist, restrained the same child in a highchair unnecessarily, and left another outside a classroom in the cold as a punishment – could not be substantiated and that key witnesses to the alleged incidents were unreliable.

The primary school teacher admitted to taking the socks and shoes off her deaf student, but said it was for safety reasons.

However the teacher did admit to removing the socks and shoes of a profoundly deaf, vision impaired Year 5 student with significant language and developmental delay and complex behavioural issues, which prevented him from joining other students on a break.

The boy, 10 years old at the time of his teacher’s sacking in 2020 and given the pseudonym ‘Jack Andrews’, was known to become aggressive at times and “work himself into a heightened emotional state”.

Both the teacher and a School Learning Support Officer regularly took his shoes off as a safety measure.

“[Jack’s] behaviour had been escalating and he would lash out at staff by kicking, screaming, and spitting,” the teacher submitted.

A separate allegation, that the teacher manhandled a child in the canteen line, could not be proven. (File image)

“To reduce the likelihood of injury to staff when [Jack] was in a heightened state, his shoes would be removed as he would kick staff in their shins … if he was heightened when the bell sounded for lunch, it was unsafe for [Jack] to enter into the playground as he was a risk to himself and others.

“Once [Jack] became calm his shoes were returned and staff assisted him with replacing and retying them. [Jack] was then able to participate in his outside play.”

The Department of Education argued the “unnecessary and inappropriate” strategy “could amount to misconduct” because it prevented Jack from taking designated breaks for students’ wellbeing, an allegation Commissioner Webster upheld.

“The appellant’s conduct was inappropriate and unfair to Jack and fell short of the standards expected of teachers,” she said.

(File image - does not depict any person in this case) The teacher’s actions were found to constitute a breach of the Code of Conduct, but did not warrant sacking.

In her decision, Commissioner Webster said disciplinary action was “warranted”, but described termination as an “excessive” punishment.

Instead, she ordered the teacher be rehired but transferred to a role not at the school, issued with a written warning and be placed on “a performance improvement plan”.

She also found “a systemic failure” in leadership and governance at the school “was a significant contributing factor in the conduct”.