Removing earphone ‘serious misconduct’

When students in Gregory Robinson’s class raised concerns about him hitting a student, he suggested they go talk to the principal.

He expected them to be back within 15 minutes and that would be the end of the matter. Instead, it was the start of a legal process to try to clear his name.

Three years later, the teacher of 40 years was cleared of the allegation of hitting a student, but found to have committed serious misconduct after removing an earphone from a student’s ear.

According to a decision of a Teachers’ Disciplinary Tribunal, Robinson was teaching a Year 10 maths class at Mount Maunganui College where two students were listening to music through earphones and drumming on a desk, a Court of Appeal decision released this week found.

When the students didn’t respond to Robinson’s request to stop, he removed the earphones from the student’s ear, accidentally breaking them in the process.

The incident resulted in a complaint to the tribunal by the school’s principal. Under the Education Act, a school is obligated to report complaints of misconduct to the tribunal. Robinson said the notification was made after a different student said they saw him hit the student when removing the earphones.

Ultimately, the allegation never stacked up. An investigation found there was insufficient evidence to prove Robinson had struck a student.

However, two charges were laid — one for his act of removing the headphones, and one for failing to deescalate the situation. Those charges were ultimately proven and Robinson was censured.

The tribunal found Robinson “removed the headphones unexpectedly and recklessly” — an act that amounted to serious misconduct due to the possibility it could “adversely affect the student’s wellbeing” and ran the risk of bringing the teaching profession into disrepute.

It was agreed the breaking of the earphones was accidental.

Robinson, who worked as a teacher for 40 years, appealed the decision with the District Court. That was unsuccessful, with the court upholding the tribunal’s findings.

He later appealed again, this time with the Court of Appeal, but the court upheld the tribunal’s decision.

The full details of the tribunal’s decision remains secret, with the Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand chief executive saying it would be published when the appeal process was complete.

Robinson accepted that removing the earphones wasn’t the best course of action, but disputed that the act amounted to serious misconduct.

He returned to teaching at a different school but has since retired.

In a statement, Teaching Council chief executive Lesley Hoskin said: “We understand that teachers can find themselves in difficult situations, but the safety and wellbeing of children and young people must always be our highest priority.”

Mount Maunganui College principal Alistair Sinton declined to comment.