The High Court has restrained Rosmini Community School’s Board of Management from continuing disciplinary proceedings against teacher Emer Lally over her remote classes during the January to March 2021 lockdown, pending determination of her legal action.
In a judgment delivered on 4 October 2021, Ms Justice Butler granted an interlocutory injunction. She did not decide whether Ms Lally breached her duties or whether the allegations against her were true. The court’s decision concerned the fairness of the process, not the underlying dispute about how blended learning should have been delivered.
The school’s principal alleged that Ms Lally cancelled 67 classes without notice, including 38 special classes, and incorrectly marked attendance rolls. The school also alleged that two rolls were marked for classes that did not take place. Ms Lally said she taught some classes live and assigned independent work for others, remaining available to assist pupils and correct work. She also raised concerns about technical problems with the school’s systems and argued that the audit relied on by the principal did not capture her full engagement with students.
The dispute arose amid disagreement between the school and the Association of Secondary Teachers of Ireland over whether teachers were required to be logged into live online classes throughout each timetabled period. The school considered the matter serious enough to begin the stage-four process under Department of Education Circular 49/2018, which can lead to sanctions including dismissal.
The principal withdrew his first comprehensive report after Ms Lally brought proceedings and produced a revised report. The judge found that the reports were substantially similar. She held that the stage-four process had begun when the principal sent the report to the Board and Ms Lally; the Board did not have a separate preliminary decision to make about whether to start it.
Justice Butler found that Ms Lally had raised a fair question about whether the Board could approach the allegations with an open mind, given its earlier discussions of the dispute and statements about the teachers’ conduct. She also identified a serious question about whether the revised report fairly addressed information potentially favourable to Ms Lally, including her account of work assigned through other Google tools and problems with the attendance system. The court did not determine that the Board was biased or that the report was unfair; those issues remain for the substantive proceedings.
The judge concluded that proceeding could cause lasting harm to Ms Lally’s professional reputation, while she remained at work and the school had not sought to suspend her. The injunction restrains disciplinary proceedings arising from the way she conducted classes during the lockdown from January to March 2021. It does not resolve the legal action or prevent the court from later determining the parties’ claims.