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<\/p>\nA head teacher whose health and career were ruined by false accusations of racism and religious discrimination at a primary school dominated by Muslims has won \u00a3400,000 in damages.<\/p>\n
Erica Connor was forced into early retirement through stress after governors at New Monument School in Woking turned her into a scapegoat by claiming she was Islamophobic.<\/p>\n
But the local education authority failed to help her as its “excessively tolerant” officers were more worried about complaints to the race equality watchdog than her suffering.<\/p>\n
The court heard that in 1998 Mrs Connor took over the school – where up to 85 per cent of pupils were Muslim and 90 per cent spoke English as a second language – and test results improved “very considerably” for the first few years.<\/p>\n
However in 2003 two new members – Paul Martin, a parent governor, and Mumtaz Saleem, a nominee of the local education authority – joined its governing body and tried to take it over.<\/p>\n
The judge, Mr John Leighton-Williams, QC, said: “I am satisfied that they sought to monopolise governors body meetings with a view to imposing their own agenda and were prepared to do so regardless of the interests of the school and anyone who resisted that agenda.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
It’s easy to imagine the reaction<\/a> that similar tactics by two Christians on the governing body would have provoked.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In the case of a head teacher in Woking UK, it cost taxpayers \u00a3400,000 to compensate her for the fact that the local education authority allowed a couple of obdurate Muslims to bully her into obsequious tolerance. But she fought … Continue reading