Teacher 'consistently' humiliated pupil in class over pronouns, tribunal told

A teacher who refused to use a pupil's preferred pronouns in class "consistently" humiliated them, the college's ex-principal told a tribunal.

Kevin Lister, 60, from Wiltshire, was dismissed in September 2022 for gross misconduct by New College Swindon following complaints by two students.

He denies violating the student's dignity.

Mr Lister has taken the college to an employment tribunal in Bristol claiming unfair dismissal.

The college's principal at the time said it was the way his beliefs were manifested that led to his dismissal.

The hearing in Bristol was told the 17-year-old - known only as Student A - informed the college they wished to be addressed by a boy's name and with male pronouns in September 2021.

Mr Lister refused to do this and later in the academic year, a friend of the teenager, referred to as Student B, made a formal complaint about Mr Lister's conduct.

That included an occasion when Mr Lister wrote Student A's birth name - known as a dead name - on a classroom whiteboard during a discussion about whether Student A would be entering a nationwide girls' maths competition.

He would also "point" at Student A rather than address them by their preferred name or pronouns, although he said he "gestured", the tribunal heard.

Carole Kitching, who was the college's principal and chief executive at the time, told the hearing it was the way Mr Lister's "gender critical" beliefs were manifested that led to his dismissal and not the views themselves.

Referring to the incident with the whiteboard, Miss Kitching said: "This was humiliating for the student, and I don't understand why you wrote their name on the whiteboard when all they had to do was go and see another teacher."

Miss Kitching said "You were suspended for failing to treat Student A with respect by consistently humiliating them in the class by your refusal to treat them with dignity and respect, which is required by all members of staff."

The teenager had informed the college in September 2021 they wished to be addressed by a boy's name and with the male pronouns.

Mr Lister immediately raised a safeguarding concern because of the request, and also the student's academic performance.

Miss Kitching rejected Mr Lister's claim that being LGBT+ was in itself a safeguarding concern and that Student A was embarking on medical transition.

"There was no evidence that was happening," she said.

"You have made that leap because you say that it is the inevitable corralling between someone who wishes to be known by a different name or pronoun."

Mr Lister compared a teacher making a safeguarding referral about a student becoming indoctrinated by ISIS ideology to that of a student being encouraged by a teacher to take testosterone.

Miss Kitching said it is a "completely different scenario" and there was "no evidence Student A was being coerced".

He is claiming unfair dismissal, discrimination or victimisation on grounds of religion or belief and that he suffered a detriment and/or dismissal due to exercising rights under the Public Interest Disclosure Act.

The hearing continues at Bristol Civil Justice Centre.

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