A TEACHER reprimanded after a further education college he failed to get a job at received an email containing a four-letter word has lost a High Court fight.
Benjamin Thomas mounted a legal challenge after a regulator ruled that an email sent to Coleg Gwent amounted to unacceptable professional conduct and merited a reprimand.
He argued that a decision by the Education Workforce Council, the regulator for the education workforce in Wales, was unfair.
But a judge has ruled against him and dismissed an appeal.
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Mr Justice Johnson has concluded that a council committee conducted a fair hearing when making a reprimand decision.
The judge outlined his decision in a written ruling published this week after overseeing a High Court appeal hearing in Cardiff earlier this month.
He said Mr Thomas had registered with the council as a further education teacher and, in December 2019, applied for a job as a sports lecturer.
A human resources administrator at Coleg Gwent had emailed to tell Mr Thomas that he had not been selected for further consideration.
The judge said an email saying “Go f*** your self”, with an attached winking emoji, was sent from Mr Thomas’s mobile phone shortly afterwards.
Mr Thomas did not accept that he had sent the email.
The judge said a council committee had conducted a fair hearing.
“It has not been shown that it was wrong to conclude that the appellant sent the email or that this amounted to unacceptable professional conduct warranting a reprimand,” he said.
“Nor has it been shown that there was any irregularity in the proceedings or that the outcome was unjust.
“The appeal is therefore dismissed.”
Coleg Gwent has sites in Newport, Ebbw Vale, Cross Keys, Usk and Cwmbran.
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