Ultra-orthodox Jewish nursery sacked teacher for ‘living in sin’
A JEWISH teacher has won a tribunal after she was sacked for living with her boyfriend outside of wedlock.
Zelda de Groen, 24, was accused of living in sin by school leaders at the ultra-orthodox nursery where she worked.
She said she was subjected to a “humiliating” interview by her bosses, who probed her private life and told her that she should be married and that having children outside of marriage would “not be tolerated”.
Ms de Groen was pulled out of classes for an hour-long dressing down after parents at the Gan Menachem nursery in Hendon, north London, complained about her living with her boyfriend, Oz Waknin.
She said she was initially advised by Miriam Lieberman, the head teacher, and Dina Toron, the nursery manager, to lie to parents and deny she was cohabiting outside of wedlock. But when she asked for an apology two days later, she was disciplined and sacked.
Ms de Groen, who has since married Mr Waknin, successfully sued the nursery for direct and indirect religious discrimination, direct sex discrimination and harassment.
In its ruling, the Watford Employment Tribunal panel said: “She was dealing with senior managers who were behaving rather like an overbearing mother and elder sister. The effect was undoubtedly humiliating, degrading and offensive. It is repugnant to generally accepted standards of morality to require someone to lie, especially about matters so concerned with their protected human rights.”
It concluded that a male teacher would not have been treated in such a way and that the root of the problem was interpretation of their religion.
Rabbi Dr Jonathan Romain, the chairman of the Accord Coalition for inclusive education, said the case would send a strong signal to all faith schools that they “cannot let theology take precedence over education or legislation, and that their employment practice cannot breach laws against discrimination”.