SACKED Le Rondin School head teacher Jane Stephens failed yesterday in her bid to obtain a judicial review. But she intends to fight on.

‘I will now discuss with my advocate what further action can be taken,’ she said after the hearing.

‘I may issue proceedings for breach of contract in the Royal Court, or make a complaint to the employment tribunal, or both. But for obvious reasons I cannot comment further until those alternatives have been properly considered.’

Lt-Bailiff Richard Southwell, QC, who will deliver a written judgement, expressed concern over some aspects of Education’s handling of the matter.

‘It is an extraordinary story,’ he said. ‘She takes over the school on 8 ‘September’ and on 27 the director of Education tells her to resign and that she will not get a job within Guernsey education again.’

Mr Southwell said that the papers in front of him raised questions into the conduct of Education and warranted some type of review.

He was also concerned that the department had failed to let Mrs Stephens have the minutes of meetings, despite her having requested them at the outset.

Mr Southwell said there was no suggestion of misconduct. She had lost her job in January because she had been ‘incompatible’ with the department.

For Mrs Stephens, Advocate Christian Hay said that no suggestion of any misconduct arose in the reasons given for his client’s dismissal.

‘But our argument is that it could be an underlying factor,’ he said.

Had it been a disciplinary matter, Mr Southwell said, the Royal Court would not sanction a judicial review until all rights of appeal under the island’s employment laws had been exhausted.

Advocate Hay said the employment laws were inadequate in his client’s case, which was a special one. She had worked for Education for more than 20 years and was four years short of retirement.

The best compensation she could hope for was six months’ salary. Education had effectively forced her into early retirement and there were huge financial implications.

Advocate Hay said that the Education board had effectively acted as a disciplinary tribunal and Education had shown a glaring unfairness towards his client.

Counsel said that the director of Education, who had reported on Mrs Stephens’ case, had been included in the board meeting that deliberated after the hearing and, said Advocate Hay, there had been other substantial procedural irregularities.

Mrs Stephens had had no right of appeal because it was not considered a disciplinary matter.

Mr Southwell said there was a serious question over how long it had taken the application to come to court, given that Mrs Stephens had been sacked in January.

‘We were hoping that we would not have to come here,’ said Advocate Hay.

Crown Advocate Richard McMahon said the director had not voted when the board decided. Education was awarded costs.

Although disappointed at the outcome, Mrs Stephens was pleased that she had been cleared of any misconduct.

‘I am also pleased, for employees of the department, that the Lt-Bailiff remarked on the unfairness of the department’s procedures and recommended that a review should be undertaken.’

* An Education spokeswoman said the board would discuss appointing a head for Le Rondin when it met today. An announcement would be made this week.

Mrs Stephens had also unsuccessfully applied for an interim injunction preventing the appointment of a successor.