A teacher who suffered life-altering injuries as a result of a student’s assault was compensated with a six-figure payment.
The east of England-based teacher also suffered psychological harm, bleeding in the kidneys, damaged bladder, loss of hearing in her left ear, and brain damage.
The instructor received £350,000 in this horrifying case, according to the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT), which was one of the more than £15.1 million in settlements the teaching union obtained for its members last year.
The payouts – which relate to cases where education staff were awarded settlements over injuries, discrimination, bullying in the workplace or contractual disputes – were released ahead of the union’s annual conference held in Glasgow this Easter.
In another case, a teacher from the south east of England received £100,000 after a pupil kicked a football at her head while she was walking to her classroom.
She fell and lost consciousness and the long-term impact of her injuries meant she had to take ill-health retirement.
The union also secured £115,000 for a teacher in Yorkshire who was dismissed after suffering work-related stress following a restructure.
She was required to take on a job which comprised of three merged roles, requiring significant extra management responsibilities.
She was placed on a sickness monitoring programme after she started being absent from work due to stress caused by the ‘excessive workload’, which led to her being fired.
Patrick Roach, general secretary from the union, said: ‘The level of compensation we have secured for teachers who have suffered physical and mental harm, discrimination and abuse at work is an indictment of an education system that is failing in its duty of care to the profession.
‘No amount of compensation can make up for the often devastating impact of physical and mental injury at work.
‘Teachers have a right to be treated with dignity and to be safe when they go to work. The NASUWT will never hesitate in pursuing legal remedies where employers fail in their duty of care to their staff.’
Meanwhile, teachers are set to go back on strike in April and May after members of the National Education Union overwhelmingly rejected a government pay deal.
The next industrial action for education workers is planned for April 27 and May 2.