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A primary school teacher was sacked after having a secret affair with the parent of one of her pupils, an employment tribunal heard.
Anne Brenen was accused of having several ‘inappropriate’ relationships with pupils’ parents at Westoe Crown Primary School, in South Shields, between 2016 and 2017. She was then sacked for gross misconduct in 2018, but filed a claim for unfair dismissal and disability discrimination on the grounds she was depressed.
At the time, other members of staff had grown concerned about her behaviour when she began asking a child, named only as pupil F, into her classroom to do jobs for her. Rumours spread that she was having a sexual relationship with the child’s father, who she had had met during parents’ evening.
Mrs Brenen had previously been complaining of problems in her marriage and had separated from her husband, the tribunal heard. A teaching assistant then told how she had spotted Mrs Brenen’s car outside the the parent of pupil F’s house one morning.
She said the teacher implied she was having a ‘physical’ relationship with the parent when asked about it, but, when confronted by the school’s headteacher Steven Price, she repeatedly lied that they were just friends.
Mrs Brenen later admitted the affair and told the tribunal she hadn’t disclosed the information previously because the relationship ‘only lasted a short time’.
The tribunal was told there were also concerns that she had had a number of inappropriate relationships with other parents, including one father she claimed was stalking her.
She had reported the man, the father of pupil G, to the police for harassment but later allowed him to go on a school trip as a parent helper.
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There were also concerns she had shared information about another child, known as pupil D, with their father who did not have contact with them, something she denied. This led to fears she was not properly safeguarding children at the school.
Mrs Brenen, who had been a teacher for 17 years, had two periods of sick leave due to stress in January and March 2016. She then had an ‘absence review’ meeting with Mr Price in June the same year.
She told the tribunal that during this meeting she told him she was suffering from depression and was on medication, but he denied this was mentioned. The ruling states they ‘preferred Mr Price’s evidence’ as Mrs Brenen did not ‘present as the most reliable witness’.
The tribunal heard Mr Price later became so concerned about Mrs Brenen’s behaviour he suspended her pending an investigation in October 2017.
Mrs Brenen, a mum-of-three, was then invited to a disciplinary hearing to consider allegations about her behaviour. The committee found the allegations were proved and amounted to gross misconduct.
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She went on to file a claim for unfair dismissal, but this was unsuccessful. A panel ruled she was guilty of a ‘serious breach of the standards expected’ of a senior teacher.
They said: ‘In her evidence to the tribunal, [Mrs Brenen] said she started a sexual relationship with the father of pupil F, a child at her school. The claimant did not disclose that relationship to the head teacher. She said she did not do so because it only lasted a short time.
‘The claimant’s inability to recognise safeguarding issues was clearly a serious matter for the respondent. Her actions amounted to gross misconduct.’
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