A school principal of Kilkenny City Vocational School, Catherine McSorley of Bennetsbridge Co. Kilkenny, has won her High Court challenge to an order by the Minister for Education that she should be removed from her position.
The VEC sought to suspend Ms. Sorley in 2005 after a number of poor reports ranging from staff stand-offs to allegations and bad publicity. Ms McSorleys legal team consistently highlighted that she had performed well since the report was carried out eight years previous, and that the decision to remove her was unjustified and based upon a flawed investigation system, which was carried out by Mr Torlach O’Connor, a retired Assistant Chief Inspector of the Department of Education, at the behest of then Minister for Education Mary Hanafin in 2006. Mr Justice John Hedigan, who heard the case today ruled that the complaints against Ms McSorley involved events that occurred between 2001 and 2003 when she was relatively new to her role and that these from these complaints, now eight to ten years old, any decision to dismiss was "manifestly disproportionate, bearing in mind the inordinate length of time since the events in question and her apparently very satisfactory performance of her duties since then." This decision is a clear statement to employers that the decision to dismiss a person from their role should not be taken lightly and dismissal should only be a last course of action when considering sanctions and alternative solutions sought. The issue of the punishment being disproportionate to the offences is interesting as employers are increasingly being reminded to review all the facts of the case before coming to a reasoned decision, and mitigating circumstances (in this case the relative short length of service of Ms. McSorley at the time of the allegations) should be considered before arising at any decision. it is also noteworthy to take that any allegations made should be dealt with at the time to avoid a scenario where allegations are carrying on for a period of time and thus the seriousness of these allegations is somewhat reduced. This case has been dragging on now for almost 8 years and it is good to see it being finally brought to a close.
