‘Culture of misogyny’: teacher surrounded by hundreds of students and pelted with food at elite Brisbane boys’ school, court told | Australian education

A teacher at one of Brisbane’s top private boys’ schools has claimed he was exposed to a “culture of misogyny” after he was surrounded and pelted with food by hundreds of Catholic school students in an incident that left him with “serious psychiatric injury”.

A lawyer acting for Victoria Sparrow, a teacher at Marist College Ashgrove, told the Brisbane supreme court the school allowed a culture of misogyny to “thrive and exist”.

While the school claimed on Wednesday that the matter had been addressed, Sparrow’s lawyer, Gerard Forde, told the court on Monday that at least three female staff at the school had also complained about their treatment.

Forde told the court Sparrow was mentally scarred by the students allegedly “pelting” him with food and drink when he was “surrounded” by a group of up to 300 male students on the playground.

He told the court the students “then focused on him, started chanting, started throwing food and drinks and some of them hit him”.

Forde later described the behavior as “throwing food” and “assault” at him.

“He suffered serious psychiatric trauma,” he said.

Sparrow claimed the school contributed to the incident by allowing “a culture of misogyny to thrive and exist.”

He filed a workers’ compensation claim on July 9 last year. His claim must go to a mandatory conference to allow for a negotiated solution.

Sparrow is asking the school for documents to help with his claim before starting negotiations.

His case was heard in the Brisbane supreme court on Monday.

He claims there has long been a deterioration in children’s behavior at school.

He also failed to maintain discipline, failed to have “appropriate protocols and safety measures” for playground duty and failed to provide her with adequate support after the incident occurred, she told the court on Monday.

Forde said she submitted documents related to three other women who complained about the school and that “there were other women who complained, but they did not make a statement.”

For example, he said another pseudonymous teacher “was subjected to numerous rude and offensive comments from students during a Zoom-conducted lesson during Covid-19.”

“Students were sexist and degrading [the teacher] I can give examples of these expressions [as] necessary. It was humiliating for him,” Forde said in court.

He said the issue was escalated to the university management team.

In another incident, a student came to the teachers’ cafeteria and threatened the teacher and his family.

“And that teacher was later dismissed for the incident,” Forde said.

Many of these issues were supposed to be discussed in emails and the subject of meetings, but Forde claimed they were not given the documents.

For example, he said they had not received “regular file notes” taken during meetings to discuss complaints.

“We say that their claim that they have submitted all their documents is false, they have more documents,” Forde said in a statement on Monday.

He asked Judge Patrick McCafferty to order the release of additional documents.

The judge adjourned the case so that a more specific list of the documents in dispute could be made.

Marist College said in a statement Wednesday that it could not comment because the matter was in court, but that the school stood for a “culture of respect, inclusion and accountability.”

“This matter is the subject of legal proceedings, and the College respects the need for due process and procedural fairness for all parties,” the statement said.

“When this incident occurred three years ago the College reached out to all parents and the matter was addressed under our Student Conduct Management Policy. Marist College Ashgrove is firmly committed to fostering a culture of respect, inclusion and accountability.

“We also place a strong emphasis on education, including our comprehensive Student Welfare programme, which enables us to develop well-rounded young men who respect the personal dignity of everyone.”

The case will return to court on Friday.