Teacher with HIV challenges her sacking
A West Coast teacher fired four weeks after revealing her HIVpositive status has laid a complaint with the Human Rights Commission.
Gayle Jonker said she was ‘‘disturbed’’ by the way her HIVpositive disclosure was handled by her employer, calling it uninformed and uneducated.
A letter was sent to parents, along with a child illness pamphlet. A letter offering staff counselling was also sent.
The 55-year-old was manager at Learning Adventures daycare centre in Cobden, which is owned by Evolve Education, for just under three months. Evolve said her dismissal was unrelated.
Jonker said she was considering her legal options but wrote to the commission because she believed she had been discriminated against. She told her employers about her HIV as a courtesy because she was to be in The Press in a story on breaking down the stigma attached to it.
Jonker said she was ‘‘mortified’’ when the letter was sent to parents soon after.
‘‘Some parents were unhappy or shocked how they found out, but most have been nothing but kind. The child illness policy with this letter would have scared them because it implies I could make their children sick.’’
Some parents asked Jonker for her medical records and information about her sex life.
Evolve said in a letter after Jonker complained that the issue ‘‘was to become so public we believe we had an obligation to the families to ensure they had information ahead of the publication of the article in The Press’’.
‘‘From our perspective, what is most important is for you to be assured that Evolve does not tolerate discrimination at any level.’’
Jonker said she was told she was fired under the 90-day legislation because her relationship with her managers had become ‘‘untenable’’. Reasons put to her at a performance meeting included being ‘‘snappy’’, taking too long for lunch breaks and being rude to a child’s grandparent.