‘Culture of misogyny’: teacher surrounded by hundreds of students and pelted with food at elite Brisbane boys’ school, court told
Teacher at Marist College Ashgrove claims she suffered ‘serious psychiatric injury’ after the schoolyard incident
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A teacher at one of Brisbane’s top private boys’ schools has claimed she was subject to a “culture of misogyny” after being surrounded by hundreds of Catholic school students and pelted with food in an incident that left her with a “serious psychiatric injury”.
A barrister acting for Victoria Sparrow, a teacher at Marist College Ashgrove, told the Brisbane supreme court that the school allowed a culture of misogyny to “develop and exist”.
Her barrister, Gerard Forde, submitted in court on Monday that at least three female staff at the school had also made complaints about their treatment.
Forde told the court Sparrow has been mentally scarred after students were allegedly “pelting” her with food and drink when a group of up to 300 male students “surrounded her” in the playground.
He told the court that the students “then focused on her, started chanting, throwing food and drink, some of which hit her”.
Forde later characterised the behaviour as “pelting” food at her, and “an assault”.
“She has suffered a serious psychiatric injury,” he said.
Sparrow alleges the school contributed to the incident by allowing “a culture of misogyny to develop and exist”, he said.
She served a notice of claim for workers’ compensation on 9 July last year. Her claim must go to a compulsory conference to allow for a negotiated settlement.
Sparrow is seeking documents from the school to aid her claim, before conducting negotiations.
Her matter was heard in the Brisbane supreme court on Monday.
She claims that there had been a deterioration of the behaviour of the children at the school, over a long period of time, he said.
It also failed to maintain discipline, did not have “appropriate protocols and safety measures” regarding playground duty, and failed to offer adequate support to her after the incident took place, he told the court on Monday.
She submitted documents about three other women who had made complaints about the school “and there are other women who have made complaints, but they haven’t made disclosure,” Forde said.
For instance, he said, another teacher, given a pseudonym, “was the subject of numerous gross and offensive comments by students during a lesson conducted by Zoom during Covid-19”.
“The students were sexist and demeaning towards [the teacher] I can provide examples of these statements [as] required. It was humiliating to her,” Forde said in court.
The issue was brought to the college leadership team, he said.
In another incident, a student came to the teachers’ lunchroom and threatened a teacher and his family.
“And then that teacher was subsequently stood down because of the incident,” Forde said.
Many of these matters ought to have been discussed in emails and been the subject of meetings, but Forde claimed documents were not released to them.
For instance, they did not received “regular file notes” taken during meetings, which would have been held to discuss the complaints, he said.
“What we’re saying is their claim that they have produced all their documents is false, that they have more documents,” Forde said on Monday.
He asked justice Patrick McCafferty to order the release of additional documents.
The judge adjourned the case to allow for a more specific list of the documents in dispute in what he called a “disclosure fight”.
The case will return to court on Friday.
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