An unfair dismissal was made against a teacher assistant for saying that his primary school held a vendetta after he was fired from the school for “humiliating” a young boy in class by giving him a girl’s name.

John Brelsford split up his PE lesson at a school in North Yorkshire by gender to play a game, but there weren’t enough girls to create equal teams so some of the boys had to switch sides, an employment tribunal heard.

After Mr Brelsford began calling boys on the girls’ sides male names, it was revealed that one pupil who suffered from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, (ADHD), was called ‘vulnerable.’ He had also been ‘humiliated and started crying.

He got mad at the TA and was called a ‘baby by his classmates.

After the incident, Mr. Brelsford was fired. He had been previously warned about Brelsford’s behavior after he received complaints from his parents and colleagues.

He had called his pupils “stupid” and “pathetic”, screamed and shouted at them before, as well as Googled “Gingerphobia” in front of his classmates, which led to one child who had red hair being teased and mocked by her classmates.

Brelsford claimed that he was fired because of a “vendetta” against him. However, the tribunal dismissed his claims of unfair dismissal and ruled that he could have been fired’much earlier than he was.

The tribunal heard Mr Brelsford worked at St Wilfrid's Primary School, a Catholic voluntary aided academy in the cathedral city of Ripon

A tribunal was informed that Mr Brelsford had worked in St Wilfrid’s primary school, a Catholic volunteer-aided academy located in Ripon.

According to the tribunal, Mr Brelsford was a teacher at St Wilfrid’s Primary school in Ripon. This is a Catholic-sponsored academy.

Andrew Truby was the headteacher after parents complained about what the teaching assistant said to the children.

These allegations included that he was trying to undermine their child’s confidence and publicly gathering test scores. He also commented that the child didn’t know his times tables, saying it was “pathetic” that a child would not get double figures on their test.

It was also said that at this point, Mr Brelsford had shouted at children and copied their actions.

A child told their teacher in November 2017 that Mr Brelsford had injured their hand while squeezing theirs.

A parent informed their child that they were ‘a little upset’ over something in school the next month.

According to the tribunal, Mr Brelsford had been teaching lessons about Vikings and then he did an internet search for “Gingerphobia”. A child with red hair was teased and made to feel upset by classmates.

Brelsford was temporarily suspended while an investigation took place. After that, he received his first written warning. This would continue to be active for 12 months.

Leeds tribunal heard from Mr Brelsford that he shouted at a student “stop acting stupid”, while the warning was in effect.

He was then given a written warning that he would not be allowed to file another complaint for at least two years.

A parent filed a complaint against Mr Brelsford in July 2019 regarding his conduct at a sporting event, where he allowed too many runners take part in the race. This allegedly put children at danger of being hurt. 

The school did not take any formal actions, but the student was given a letter of advice.

In October 2020, the final event that led to Mr Brelsford’s dismissal was recorded.

According to the tribunal, he had been running a PE class when he spoke to them in an informal manner that left children hurt or ashamed. The tribunal found that ‘G” had ADHD.

The children were divided into girls and boys teams by Mr Brelsford, but there weren’t enough girls to go around, so he requested that some of the boys act as the girls.

He also gave boys their ‘girls’ names, which upset G. G became more upset when Mr Brelsford called him a baby, and his classmates laughed. This was deemed a violation of the school’s Behaviour Policy, Code of Conduct and Conduct.

Delia Evans was the former headteacher. She stated: “I’m concerned John doesn’t realize that his conduct has been unprofessional, and that what he’s doing wrong, in spite of previous training and warnings.” 

The judge recommended the formal hearing to consider this case.

The meeting was held January 20, 2021. Mr Brelsford stated that he was being investigated 11 times because of a conspiracy to remove him. The next day, he was fired.

Chris McAvoy–Newns, Employment Judge, dismissed the claim for unfair dismissal.

He concluded, “I find that it is.” [Mr Brelsford]He was fired because of his conduct.

‘Although it seems that Truby was having a difficult time with him before January 2021. However, if there had been a vendetta, then I think they would have escalated dismissal more rapidly than they did.

“There was a lot of incidents regarding…” [Mr Brelsford]Beginning February 2017. All of these are concerned [his]Particularly, his behavior towards children and the way that he interacted or spoke with them.

Although none of the incidents that gave rise to the warnings came from the exact same incident, each one followed the same theme. [Mr Brelsford’s]Children should be treated with respect [school]Considered to be inappropriate.