Long-time Xavier teacher sacked over ‘messy desk’, marking irregularities

The teacher has won a $14,000 payout after being sacked over marking irregularities, poor dealings with colleagues and his untidy desk. But he won’t be allowed to return to the elite school.

Andrew Murphy has lost his challenge against dismissal from Xavier College. Picture: Mark Stewart

A long-standing teacher at one of Melbourne’s leading Catholic schools has lost his challenge against dismissal.

The Fair Work Commission has ruled Xavier College’s sacking of educator Andrew Murphy was harsh, but not unreasonable.

Mr Murphy had been at the school since 2003 and taught VCE Latin, religious education, Italian and Classic Greek.

Issues documented by the Kew boys’ school included Mr Murphy’s rescheduling of year 12 School Assessed Coursework (SACs), failure to provide timely feedback to students, poor dealings with colleagues and his untidy desk.

In August 2024, the school reported concerns about Mr Murphy’s marking of year 12 students to the Victorian Curriculum Assessment Authority (VCAA), culminating in his termination due to negligence in his duties in September 2024. This followed two warnings and a performance management process.

Mr Murphy sought reinstatement in the Fair Work Commission, arguing he was denied procedural fairness and was an employee of good standing with extensive service. He explained that the marking difficulties he faced were due to a new computer system, recovery from arm surgery and attendance at jury duty.

In a ruling handed down last week, Commissioner Scott Connolly said Mr Murphy had taken a “minimalist approach” to addressing the issues. He also found his Latin marking to be a “legitimate concern” although the VCAA did not make a finding against him.

He noted that Mr Murphy gave students their results late and did not provide one VCE Latin student SAC results at all.

Mr Murphy was awarded a payout of $14,000 but did not succeed in getting his job back. Picture: Mark Stewart

“I have been satisfied the College has identified substantiated grounds of misconduct on Mr Murphy’s part,” Commissioner Connolly said.

“I am satisfied the College has provided a valid reason to bring Mr Murphy’s employment to an end.”

Despite this, Commissioner Connolly found there was “an element of harshness to the employer’s decision” due to anomalies in the performance management process.

He described Mr Murphy as “a 21-year employee with a sense of personal pride and dignity that he conveyed in the witness box”.

In awarding Mr Murphy a payout of $14,121 plus superannuation, the judge noted that Mr Murphy had never had another job and “had a long and significant period of successful service” with the school.

He said the reinstatement that Mr Murphy sought was not appropriate because the school had “lost trust and confidence in Mr Murphy’s capacity and competence to perform in his role”.

Mr Murphy was also a representative of the Independent Education Union (IEU) at the school, who raised issued a performance improvement against the school reflecting health and safety concerns in December 2023.

A spokesman for Xavier College said the school “is satisfied that the Fair Work Commission found that it was justified in, and had a valid reason for, terminating the employment of a teacher who was found to have engaged in misconduct and poor performance.

“The College is affirmed by this finding,” he said.