Teacher’s dispute after HIV reveal now ‘closed’
A dispute between a West Coast teacher fired four weeks after revealing her HIV positive status and her employer has been resolved.
Gayle Jonker complained to the Human Rights Commission and the Employment Relations Authority about the way her HIV positive disclosure was handled by her employer.
The case has now been resolved through mediation.
Jonker said she could not comment except to say ‘‘the matter is now closed’’.
Jonker worked as a centre manager at Learning Adventures daycare centre in Cobden, which is owned by Evolve Education, for just under three months. She was fired after speaking to
about living with HIV with the aim of breaking down the stigma attached to the condition.
Evolve said her dismissal was unrelated to her health status.
Evolve has since had a new chief executive and chief operating officer.
Evolve Education Group people and talent general manger Bev Davies said all employment matters were confidential.
‘‘Evolve considers the matter closed,’’ she said.
Jonker previously told The Press she was ‘‘disturbed’’ by the way her HIV positive disclosure was handled by Evolve, calling it uninformed and uneducated. A letter was sent to parents, along with a child illness pamphlet.
Staff knocked on parents’ doors to deliver letters. A letter offering staff counselling was also sent.
She said felt ‘‘named and shamed’’ and excluded in any input on how to inform parents.
She believed the way parents were told would have scared them into believing she could make their children sick.
‘‘Some parents were unhappy or shocked how they found out, but most have been nothing but kind,’’ she said in June.
‘‘The child illness policy with this letter would have scared them because it implies I could make their children sick.’’
She is not infectious thanks to medication. she