South Dublin school seeks reporting restrictions in teacher keffiyeh case

Detailed summary

A south Dublin school accused of forcing out two members of staff for wearing the Palestinian keffiyeh scarf has sought a media gag order covering the case.

A south Dublin school accused of forcing out two members of staff for wearing the Palestinian keffiyeh scarf has sought a media gag order covering the case.

Lawyers for Harcourt Terrace Educate Together National School have sought a ruling from the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) barring the media from naming it in connection with rights claims brought by teacher Aaron Neville.

They cited a series of emails sent to the school apparently prompted by media reports on an allied case earlier this year, and a “sinister” and “distressing” bomb threat email it received on Wednesday morning.

Opposing the motion, Neville’s barrister Michael Kinsley said “every single school in the country” got the same email, a fact known to “anybody who’s a member of a national school WhatsApp group”.

Neville has brought complaints under the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977 and the Employment Equality Act 1998 against Harcourt Terrace Educate Together National School in Dublin 2.

Kinsley, instructed by Karl Gill of Ferrys Solicitors, said his client’s case was about the “same issue” as the allied case brought by former colleague Sarah O’Mahony, a special needs assistant, which opened before the WRC in June this year.

Both Neville and O’Mahony allege in their complaints that they were forced to quit over the attitude of management to their wearing of Palestinian keffiyeh scarves after complaints from parents, the WRC has heard.

Kevin Roche, instructed by Mason, Hayes and Curran for the school, sought media restrictions when Neville’s case was called on, arguing that naming the school in relation to the dispute might identify certain parties connected to the school.

He said it would be necessary for him to refer to complaints made to the principal by certain parents and that any report on the matter “may seek to identify them”.

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