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Ordeal of teacher called 'dark meat' by deputy headmaster
Last updated at 19:22pm on 11.12.07
Target: Samantha Burmis was mocked by staff and pupils
Before the trip she had been labelled "nigger" and "dark meat".
Pupils openly mocked her colour and staff told her not to apply for promotion because of the colour of her skin.
The final straw came on the second night of the trip when pupils and colleagues smoked cannabis and one teacher boasted he would get Mrs Burmis into bed - before leaving the room to be sick on a balcony.
Mrs Burmis, 39, reported the events to her deputy head and was astonished to be dismissed for "gross misconduct, gross negligence and gross dereliction of duty".
A 42-day tribunal in Ashford, Kent - which took more than a year to reach a verdict - ruled that Mrs Burmis was unfairly dismissed from her job at 860-pupil Aylesford School in Kent.
She told the tribunal how she was once asked by a staff member when she was getting her work permit, despite being born and raised in Birmingham.
She was also asked by fellow teachers if she knew how to use a computer as they might not have them in Jamaica, where her family comes from.
But she said the most stinging insults came from her deputy head, Douglas Lawson.
She was told by three teachers that Mr Lawson, now the head, had referred to her as "dark meat" and "nigger" - comments the tribunal accepted he had used in conversation.
The last straw for Mrs Burmis came on the adventure holiday to Hindhead in Surrey for 50 11-13 year olds.
Sex boasts: Teacher Mike Grosvenor
Mrs Burmis, French teacher Mike Grosvenor, 48, another teacher and two 16-year-old pupil-helpers ended up in a hotel room on the first night of the trip and started playing a drinking game called Drink if You've Done it and Truth or Dare.
Mrs Burmis objected when the games took on an explicit nature.
On the second night, she was horrified when Mr Grosvenor, another teacher and the two helpers began to smoke drugs in the room.
Mrs Burmis told the tribunal: "Two teachers and one girl went outside and smoked it under a tree. Mike Grosvenor came back and said, 'I'm stoned. I'm off to bed' and was sick over the balcony.
Mrs Burmis felt "totally humiliated" on learning that he had made a bet with his colleagues that he would be able to bed her before the trip was over.
But when she complained she was fired by Mr Lawson for gross misconduct for drinking alcohol in February 2005.
At the same time he wrote a glowing reference that helped Mr Grosvenor find another job.
Mr Grosvenor has since been banned from teaching for life by the General Teaching Council.
The tribunal criticised the school "where racial abuse from pupils was allowed to continue".
Mrs Burmis, who is married with two children, said at her home in Gravesend, Kent, last night: "I was earning £24,000 a year when I was at Aylesford, and since then I've not been able to land a full-time job.
"It's difficult accepting this when I was not the one in the wrong."
Kent County Council said the school does not accept the tribunal judgments and has lodged an appeal which the council is supporting.
Reader views (5)
Here's a sample of the latest views published. You can click view all to read all views that readers have sent in.
I would never support racism of any sort but as a pupil of Aylesford at the time of this situation and a former pupil of Mrs Burmiss I think it must be said that racism can go both ways. I am not supporting those who may have been abusive but this is one side. I know of various other former pupils who have written articles defending or generally making comments.
Aylesford may not be the best school in the country but it's unfair to dismiss it as it has been there may be some unfortunate teachers but these are outweighed by the ones who are good and do care.
- Laura, Kent
So, (this is for David Hall-Kitemaker) because "most" of the teachers you know "are members of the right on PC brigade" as you put it, she must be lying! Oh please... Ignorance is bliss!
- Teri, London
Unfortunately, this kind of nonsense happens all the time. For every millionth person who does good for race relations, the handful of ignorant people remain, spouting poison from behind the curtain. Be it from the PC/Right On brigade and otherwise. There is a lot of 'hidden' racism that goes on in public organisations up and down the country. A mere handful of these cases actually get any publicity or even to tribunal due the technicalities in proving a case valid to be heard. I applaud Ms Burmis for speaking out and making the bad apples in the bunch aware that what they do is wrong and there is no place for it in this very diverse society in which we all live. That said, we all need to be aware that if we must harbour such dated views, those views need to be kept to ourselves and not spilt as such vile against those that we secretly dislike or have no respect for, especially in front of children. Is it fair that the poison is allowed to spread? Kent County Council needs to come down harshly on those found to be responsible for such behaviour, so that the next person, be he/she black, white or indifferent, thinks before they speak.
- Black And Proud, London, England
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